/f*  rfft  n  !ro  //n\l  / 

BftiliW 


THE  PRINCE'S  VISI'l 


THE   TOUR  OF  HIS  11OYAL   HIGHNESS,   THE 
PKIXCE   OF  WALES, 

THROUGH  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  A3IE1UCA,  IX  1860. 


R.    J.    de    CORDOVA. 


ILLUSTUATKD    BY 


STEPHEXS,    ROSEXBE11G,    AND   J.    I).    SMILLIE. 


NEW  YORK: 

,     G-iS     B  It  O  A.  I>  AV  A.  Y 

1  SGI. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S61,  l>y 

R.    J.    DB    CORDOVA, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


BAKF.R  &  GODWIN, 

PRIX-TIM, 
Prinllng-Houw  Square,  N.  Y. 


)5 

3) 


DEDICATION. 


TO  THE  GENTLEMAN  ROUND  THE  CORNER. 

SIR:— 

Had  I  the  honor  of  your  personal  acquaintance,  I  should 
long  since  have  called  and  left  my  card  with  you.  Not  possessing 
this  privilege,  I  venture  thus  publicly  to  address  you. 

Many  an  eve  and  oft  have  I  beheld  you,  seated  directly  in 
the  centre  of  the  hall  in  which  I  have  been  lecturing,  intently 
listening  to  my  observations.  I  have  found  you,  night  after 
night,  in  the  same  position,  and  repeating  the  same  gestures  of 
satisfaction,  till  a  halo  has  seemed  to  surround  your  baldness, 
shining  out  upon  me  from  among  the  multitude  of  other  heads, 
like  a  star. 

When  my  remarks  have  been  serious,  you  have  done  me  the 
favor  to  weep.  Sir,  I  respect  the  extreme  sensitiveness  of  your 
nature. 

When  my  jokes  have  been  poor,  you  have  benevolently 
laughed  a  riotous  laugh,  in  defiance  of  the  silence  of  your  less 
appreciative  or  more  critical  neighbors,  and  have  even  struck 
upon  the  floor  with  your  gold-headed  cane  in  solitary  token  of 
applause.  Sir,  I  honor  the  keenness  of  your  perception. 

But  when  I  have  fortunately  succeeded  in  provoking  general 


731221 


4  DEDICATION . 

mirth  among  the  assembly,  then, — ah  !  then,  Sir,  you  have  shaken 
your  extensive  sides,  wagged  the  bald  organ  previously  referred 
to,  and  otherwise  deported  yourself  in  a  manner  which,  although 
intensely  flattering  to  me,  has  frequently  inspired  me  with  serious 
apprehensions  on  the  subject  of  your  valuable  health. 

Such  gratifying  conduct,  so  persistently  continued,  evening 
after  evening,  has  won  my  respect,  my  esteem,  my  confidence, — 
shall  I  say  it? — my  affection.  Unhappily,  I  have  never  been 
al>le  to  satisfy  my  longing  desire  to  ascertain  your  name ;  and  my 
ivirrets  on  this  point  have  not  only  kept  me  awake  at  night,  but 
have  even  interfered  with  my  general  well-being,  much  to  the 
secret  pleasure  but  dubious  profit  of  my  physician.  I  have 
enquired  severally  of  the  Janitors  of  Clinton  Hall,  Hope  Chapel, 
Irving  Hall,  and  the  Cooper  Institute,  and  they  all  recognised 
you  by  my  description,  and  knew  you, — not  by  name,  but  as 
"the  Gentleman  Round  the  Corner."  In  what  direction  lay  that 
corner  so  flippantly  alluded  to,  alas!  they  could  not  tell. 

As  "the  Gentleman  Round  the  Corner,"  therefore,  1  now 
address  yon.  Accept,  Generous  Man!  Sensitive  Heart  !  Lenient 
<  Yitic!  the  dedication  of  this  little  book,  as  a  tribute  of  grateful 
admiration.  I  solemnly  assure  you  that  1  intend  no  unworthy 
sneer  at  your  extreme  obesity,  when  I  breathe  the  humble  prayer 
that  your  shadow  may  never  be  less.  We  shall,  I  fondly  trust, 
meet  again,  (next  autumn,  in  one  or  more  of  the  public  halls;) — 
and,  until  then,  Excellent  Unknown,  believe  me  to  remain, 
With  feelings  of  the  highest  consideration, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

DE  CORDOVA. 
nrk.   A/.rit,  1801. 


AUTHOK'S  PREFACE. 


Tins  little  work,  which  the  newspapers  of  the  various  States 
have  for  the  past  six  months  "been  persistently  designating  a 
"  Poem,"  is  not  presented  to  the  public  as  possessing  any  great 
literary  merit.  Its  production  is  due  to  a  conjunction  of  cir 
cumstances,  which  may  thus  be  briefly  mentioned.  As  a 
humorous  lecturer,  I  have  known  and  suffered  periodical  fits  of 
the  most  intense  anxiety,  on  the  subject  of  A  SUBJECT,  wherewith 
to  amuse  that  eccentric  animal,  "  the  Good  Public ;"  and  I  was 
sorely  puzzled  for  one  such  last  autumn.  It  was  possibly  owing 
to  the  superabundance  of  instructive  oratory  throughout  the 
year  of  the  presidential  election,  that  the  popular  taste  rather 
favored  the  absurd; — I  believe  I  may  say  that  I  am  an  absurd 
man ; — and  the  PRINCE  OF  WALES  visited  America.  Circum 
stances  more  favorable  for  the  production  of  an  entertainment 
suited  to  the  humor  of  the  hour,  could  scarcely  have  been  found, 
and  "TuE  PRINCE'S  VISIT"  was  produced  accordingly.  Its 
success  in  most  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  Union,  North  and 


C  AUTHOR'S    PREFACE. 

South,  has  been  unequivocal,  which  is  doubtless  to  be  attributed 
more  to  the  effect  produced  by  the  oral  delivery  of  the  rhymes, 
than  to  the  intrinsic  excellence  of  the  "  Poem."  And  it  is  now 
published  by  my  enterprising  friend  FRODSHAM,  who  expects  to 
make  it  yield  a  little  more  money  to  the  author,  and,  as  is  usual 
in  these  cases,  not  a  little  to  the  publisher.  I  cordially  wish 
him  success  in  his  praiseworthy  enterprise,  and  a  satisfactory 
fulfilment  of  his  noble  anticipations. 

I  cannot,  however,  allow  "  THE  PRINCE'S  VISIT  "  to  go  to 
press  without  mentioning  to  the  reader,  and  especially  to  those 
enlightened  foreigners  who  may  be  wise  enough  to  purchase  this 
book,  that  they  must  not  accept  ad  pedem  literce  all  that  is  herein 
set  down.  The  tour  of  the  royal  party  through  the  United  States 
has  been  correctly  traced,  as  far  as  the  geography  of  His  High- 
ness's  progress  is  concerned ;  but,  of  course,  every  conversation 
here  reported  is  purely  imaginary.  His  Grace,  the  DUKE  OF 
NEWCASTLE,  is  known  to  be  one  of  the  most  polished  and  dignified 
of  men, — and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  the  idea  of  fastening 
Yankee  phrases  upon  that  distinguished  nobleman  offered 
itself  to  my  mind,  and  was  immediately  adopted.  In  like  man 
ner,  the  Mayor  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  who  is  said  to  be  a 
worthy  gentleman,  and  fully  equal  to  the  pleasant  task  which 
devolved  upon  him  in  the  reception  of  the  royal  guest,  is  pre 
sented  in  a  ludicrous  light,  in  pursuance  of  a  very  excusable 
desire  to  return  to  the  Quaker  town  aforesaid  some  of  those 


AUTHORS      PREFACE.  7 

little  civilities  which  she  is  in  the  habit  of  occasionally  paying  to 
New- York.  And  similar  instances  occur  in  various  pages  of 
"TuE  PRINCE'S  VISIT." 

On  this  side  of  the  water  all  such  little  absurdities  will  at 
once  be  recognised  and  understood,  and  nowhere  more  readily 
than  in  the  cities  which  are  thus  innocently  trifled  with.  Abroad, 
however,  this  explanation  may  be  needful. 

It  will  scarcely  be  necessary  to  add,  that  care  has  been  taken 
to  say  nothing  that  can  seriously  offend  any  one,  or  show  the 
smallest  want  of  respect  to  the  distinguished  guest  of  the  nation, 
or  to  the  noblemen  and  gentlemen  who  accompanied  His  Royal 
Highness  to  this  country. 

Notes  have  been  appended  to  explain  the  quaint  expressions 
current  here,  but  generally  unknown  abroad,  which  are  put  into 
the  mouth  of  the  DUKE  OF  NEWCASTLE. 

My  modesty  will  not  permit  me  to  lay  claim  to  any 
extravagant  praise  for  the  unexampled  daring  with  which  I 
have  made  "Niagara"  rhyme  with  "  staggerer,"  "spasm  "with 
"enthusiasm,"  "queer"  with  "idea,"  "talk"  with  "York," 
"  parcel "  with  "  Newcastle,"  &c.,  and  taken  other  similar 
liberties  which  even  Shakspeare  never  attempted.  I  shall  be 
silent  on  this  point,  and  leave  Posterity  to  do  me  justice. 

New-York,  April,  1861. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Sound  the  trumpets !  Beat  the  drums ! 
The  Princely  Heir  of  England  comes  ! 

Years  of  hateful  anger  past, 
A  softer  feeling  rules  at  last ; 
And  GEORGE'S  great  grandson  shall  find 
A  greeting  warm,  a  welcome  kind. 
Write  the  letters !  Sweep  the  halls  ! 
Erect  the  arches !  Deck  the  walls ! 
Charge  all  the  guns !  Subscribe  for  balls! 
Polish  the  engines !  Clean  the  hose ! 
Pipe-clay  the  belts  for  soldiers'  clothes ! 
Burnish  the  bayonets !  Buy  new  dresses ! 
Drill  the  children !  Write  addresses ! 
2 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

Let  the  Common  Council  all 

Beflag  and  deck  the  City  Hall ! 

Hang  out  the  banners !  Light  the  groves ! 

Hire  coaches !  Purchase  gloves ! ' 

Adjourn  the  Courts !  Postpone  the  Sessions ! 

Buy  Roman  candles !  Form  processions ! 

For  hark,  the  trumpets !  hark,  the  drums ! 

The  Princely  Heir  of  England  conies ! 


PART  I. 


NEWFOUNDLAND   TO   NEW   YORK. 


Already  the  tidings  have  flashed  o'er  the  land. 
The  Nobs  of  Cape  Breton  have  shaken  his  hand ; 
The  Prince  Edward's  people  have  met  him  with  awe ; 
The  Chief  of  Newfoundland  extended  a  paw ; 
The  loyal  Blue-noses  a  welcome  have  blown,  * 
To  greet  ALBERT  EDWARD  and  claim  him  their  own, — 
Since,  surely,  they  have  the  best  right  to  adore  him, 
As  having  received  his  grandfather  before  him. s 

And  as  for  the  Canadas  !     Loyalty's  run 

Into  madness  almost  for  VICTORIA'S  son. 

They  have  shown  him  the  wonders  of  water  and  land, 

And  shot  him  down  lumber-shoots  awful  and  grand  ; 


12  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

They  have  dined  him,  and  wined  him,  in  manner  most 

royal, 

Addressed  and  harangued  him  to  prove  they  were  loyal. 
They  have  bored  him  in  parks,  and  they've  bored  him  in 

halls ; 

Danced  him  almost  to  death  in  no  end  of  balls. 
They  have  bored  him  in  colleges,  bored  him  in  schools  ; 
Convinced  him  that  Orange  fanatics  are  fools. 4 
Torn  his  bed-clothes  to  strips, — every  fool  keeping  one, 
To  remember  the  linen  the  PRINCE  slept  upon. 
They  have  stolen  his  gloves,  and  purloined  his  cravat ; 
Even  scraped  a  souvenir  from  the  nap  of  his  hat. 
In  short,  they  have  followed  him,  hustled  and  shoved  him, 
To  convince  him  more  fully  how  dearly  they  loved  him. 
Each  snob  with  a  present,  done  up  in  a  parcel, 
To  the  lively  disgust  of  the  DUKE  OF  NEWCASTLE. 

They've  "  received  "  him  at  church,  in  magnificent  state, 

The  Bishop  and  Clergy — all  solemn,  sedate, 

With  a  farce  only  played  on  this  single  occasion, — 

Forming  a  clerico-comic  procession, 

To  show  him  his  pew,  with  the  utmost  urbanity, 

Ere  they  read  him  the  Collect  denouncing  all  vanity. 


13 


And  the  pew,  as  a  matter  of  course,  was  hung 

"With  most  solemn  of  frippery,  solemnly  strung  ; 

Surmounted,  I  need  scarcely  say,  by  a  crown ; — 

But  so  tenderly  poised,  that  the  DUKE,  with  a  frown, 

Sat  the  service  out  in  a  reverie  brown, 

Looking  up,  as  expecting  the  thing  to  come  down. 

Tho'  't  would  not  have  hurt  much  had  it  come  to  ground  ; 

Since  a  crown  is,  you  know,  but  one  fourth  of  a  pound. 

So  they  rode  him   and  boated  him,    church'd  him  and 

speech'd  him, 

Feasted  him,  toasted  him,  balPd  him,  and  preached  him ; 
And,  wishing  all  possible  honor  to  do  him, 
Made  him  review  them,  that  they  might  review  him. 

While,  to  make  matters  worse,  and  in  full  execution 

Of  the  plan  which  had  doomed  him  to  dread  persecution, 

The  New- York  Reporters  all  "  followed  him  round," 

Held  him  always  in  sight,  and  forever  in  sound, 

To  keep  Mr.  BENNETT  religiously  posted  6 

As  to  what  the  PKINCE  said  when  his  mother  was  toasted, 

And  to  let  us,  benighted  republicans,  know 

Where  His  Highness  had  gone  or  intended  to  go ; 


14  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 


How  he  looked  when  he  danced — when  he  sat  at  his  ease — 
When  His  Highness  had  sneezed,  or  was  going  to  sneeze; 
Whether  he  smiled,  or  whether  he  laughed ; 
All  recorded,  and  morning  and  night  telegraphed, 
To  the  end  that  New- York  might  reliably  know 
What  his  dear  little  Princeship  had  done  or  would  do. 
Till,  at  length,  when  routine  had  most  thoroughly  tired  him, 
It  struck  him  that  Canada  no  longer  required  him. 

Now,  he'd  had  no  end  of  polite  invitations " 

To  visit  the  land  of  his  Yankee  relations. 

In  New- York,  what  a  business  the  PRINCE  to  invite ! 

How  Fifth- A  venue  ladies  and  gentlemen  write 

To  oifer  their  mansions  and  all  they  contain, 

If  the  PRINCE,  condescendingly,  only  will  deign 

To  take  up  his  lodgings  in  such  or  such  street, 

In  the  "  brown-stone  fronts  "  that  they  cast  at  his  feet. 

Every  hotel-keeper  is  doing  his  best, 
AVith  the  most  exemplary  unction  and  zest, 

To  astonish  the  town 

And  the  Heir  to  the  crown, 
By  turning  his  hostelry  upside  down, 


15 


In  order  to  furnish  a  right  royal  nest 

For  the  PEINCE,  who,  he  hopes,  will  become  his  good  guest. 

AVhat  if  't  is  but  one  day  ? 

'T  will  be  certain  to  pay 

The  favor'd  hotel 

Most  amazingly  well. 

For  where  is  the  man  who  will  not  have  adored 
The  room  where  a  real  Prince  has  slumbered  and  snored  ? 

So  every  landlord  puts  in  his  plea, 

Trusting  the  fortunate  landlord  to  be. 

Each  house  has  a  special  ambassador  sent, 

To  see  if  the  PRINCE  will  be  pleased  to  consent 

To  take  princely  quarters,  for  right  princely  pay, 

At  such  a  hotel,  when  he  travels  this  way. 

And  I  hear,  from  a  source  which  I  may  not  repeat, 

That  a  messenger  went,  His  Highness  to  meet, 

On  behalf  of  the  Rainbow,  in  Beekman  Street. r 

But  the  oddest  invite,  most  strange  and  most  singular, 

Was  the  one  that  was  sent  from  the  far-famed  Spingular ;  * 

A  kind  of  a  secular  nunnery,  where 

An  A*b*t  so  sleek  holds  the  principal  chair ; " 

Who  vented  his  great  hospitality's  vapors 

In  a  puffing  essay  on  his  school  in  the  papers. 


16  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

In  that  letter  he  made  a  most  bumptious  display 

Of  a  "  Ladies'  Academy  "  he  kept  on  Broadway, 

On  principles  noble,  exalted,  and  grand  ; 

A  College  wherein  he  instructed  a  band 

Of  wealthy  young  ladies  to  well  understand 

That  they  were  the  highest  and  best  in  the  land  ; 

And,  with  logic  enough  most  logicians  to  bother, 

He  proved,  from  the  fact  that  the  PRINCE  had  a  mother, 

That  no  house  in  New- York,  if  reason  might  rule, 

"Would  so  fitly  receive  the  young  man  as  a  school. 

With  these  missives  and  cards  the  youth  was  so  bored, 

So  completely,  indeed,  was  His  Highness  floored 

With  this  gushing  and  multiplied  accumulation 

Of  every  description  of  kind  invitation, 

That  he  turned  to  the  DUKE  :  "  What  is  here  to  be  done  ? 

Which  one  shall  I  choose?"      Said   the  DUKE,   "Nary 

one."  10 
"  I  dare  say,"  said  the  PRINCE,  "  such  a  course  would  be 

best; 

For,  if  we  accept  one,  refusing  the  rest, 
No  doubt  all  will  say  we  were  wrong  to  receive  it." 
Said  the  DUKE,  with  a  nod,  "  You  had  better  believe  it."  " 


THE      PRINCE    8      VISIT.  17 

He  therefore  resolved,  as  JENKINS  relates, 

>». 

To  judge  for  himself  of  the  state  of  the  States. 
What  judgment  he  has,  I  of  course  cannot  say  ; 
But,  in  view  of  his  taking  one  city  per  day, 
'T  would  scarcely  be  found  of  much  use  denying, 
If  he  judged  us  at  all,  that  he  judged  us  flying. 
However,  the  QUEEN  had  decided  to  send 
A  very  short  note  to  her  very  "  good  friend,"  13 
To  tell  him  the  PRINCE  had  a  strong  inclination 
To  accept  the  kind  PRESIDENT'S  warm  invitation  ; 
And  would  certainly  do  so,  the  better  to  learn 
The  manner  and  style  of  that  people  stern, 
Whose  disloyal  and  troublesome  ancestors  rather 
Had  grossly  insulted  his  great  grandfather ; 
And  how  that,  the  better  to  form  his  opinions, 
His  Highness,  on  leaving  his  mother's  dominions, 
Should  drop  every  princely,  imperial  form, 13 
And  submit  to  the  rude  and  untitled  reform 
Of  the  land  where  each  man  is,  in  spirit  and  letter, 
As  good  as  the  next, — and  a  precious  deal  better. 
He  should  study  the  States  thro'  no  titular  fog, 
But  should  drop  all  display  and  come  here  incoy. 

Xow,  at  first,  this  created  a  huge  sensation 
Throughout  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  nation. 
3 


18  THE      FBI NOB    8      VISIT. 

They  besieged  the  Chief  Magistrate,  anxious  to  know 
What  the  meaning  was  of  this  very  strange  go. 
Enquiring  Officials  and  Congressmen  thronged  to" him: 
"  Would  not  the  PKIXCE  come  with  the  name  that  belonged 

to  him  2" 

They  wrote  puzzling  cons  to  the  Sunday  Press, 
To  ask  what  it  meant :     "  Was  there  no  redress  ?" 
And  urgently  begging  for  early  replies  j 
"  Was  it  right  that  a  Prince  should  come  here  in  disguise? 
It  is  seldom  we  have  a  real  Prince,  Lord  knows ! 
And  now  that  he's  coining,  who'd  ever  suppose 
That  he'd  come  in  some  other  young  gentleman's  clothes  ( 
Who  wants  to  see  Barons?    They're  plenty  enough ; 14 
Like  Counts,  and  that  sort  of  stale  emigrant  stuff ; 
But  a  Prince  is  '  a  thing  we  don't  see  every  day.' 
And  we'd  rather  not  see  him  than  see  him  half  way.*' 

His  Highness,  however,  not  troubling  his  head 
About  what  the  newspapers  fancied  and  said, 
Concerning  the  title  he'd  chosen  to  take, 
His  tour  without  fuss  or  confusion  to  make, 
Wrote  Mr.  BUCHANAN  politely  to  say 
He  would  dine  at  the  White  House  on  such  a  day  ; 
And,  packing  his  stars  and  his  garters  fine, 
He  made  a  bold  dash,  and — he  crossed  the  line  : 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  19 


Little  dreaming  what  sort  of  a  genuine  staggerer 
"Would  confront  him  as  soon  as  he  reached  Niagara. 


For  there  was  a  crowd  of  a  thousand  or  so, 
Looking  up  at  a  strange  and  remarkable  show. 

"  Hollo  !"  cried  the  DUKE,  as  they  rode  along, 

"I'm  afraid  that  some  chap's  been  committing  a  wrong ; 

For  across  the  falls  a  rope  has  been  slung, 

And  I  rather  believe  there's  a  man  to  be  hung." 

•> 

"  But  why,"  asked  the  PRINCE,  looking  up  in  the  air, 
"But  why  should  they  hang  the  poor  fellow  up  there?" 


ell,  Your  Highness,"  the  DUKE  said,  in  tone  most  grave, 
suppose,  in  the  States,  '  it's  a  way  that  they  have ;' 
And,  if  you'll  observe,  it's  an  excellent  plan, 
For,  as  soon  as  they've  thoroughly  hung  the  man, 
They  complete  the  course  of  the  legal  slaughter, 
By  cutting  the  rope  in  the  proper  quarter, 
d  letting  the  culprit  fall  into  the  water."1 

good  idea,"  said  the  PRINCE,  "no  doubt ; 
how  in  the  world  do  they  fish  him  out  '.*' 


20  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

"  That's  why,"  said  the  DUKE,  "  they  allow  him  to  fall ; 
They  don't  trouble  themselves  to  fish  him  at  all." 

"True!"  answer'd  the  PRINCE.     "But  another  con  : 
How  in  the  world  do  they  sling  him  on  '." 

"  Egad !"  said  the  DUKE,  "  a  wise  retort ! 
You've  got  me  there,  where  my  hair  is  short ; 1D 
But  I  dare  say  they  carry  out  that  intention 
By  some  bran-new  patent  Yankee  invention, — 
After  the  style  of  their  rat-killing  dart, 
Which  catches  the  animal  right  through  the  heart, 
And  kills  him  completely,  as  rapid  as  thought, 
If  he  only  will  come  to  the  hole  to  be  caught." 

Tims  discoursing,  and  carelessly  looking  about, 
One  of  the  party  saw  BLONDIN  come  out.  " 

"And  now,  who  may  he  be?"  His  Highness  cried. 

"  I've  no  doubt  that's  Jack  Ketch,"  my  Lord  DUKE  replied. 

"  But  Jack  Ketch  doesn't  dress  in  that  sort  of  style," 
The  PRINCE  remark'd.  with  a  princely  smile  : 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 


_a^i 

A 


'  I've  seen,  ere  now,  a  great  number  of  sights, 
But  never  a  hangman  dressed  out  in  tights, 

11  spangled,  and  sporting  a  head  of  curl'd  hair, 
Like  an  acrobat  clown  at  old  Bartlemy  Fair." 


"  That's  true,"  said  the  DUKE.     "  Gad  !  upon  my  soul, 
I  believe  he's  an  angler.     Look  at  his  pole !" 


'  But  I  ne'er  saw  a  fisherman  half  so  bold, 
And  he'll  catch  nothing  there  but  a  frightful  cold." 


21 


"  But,  hollo  !"  said  the  DUKE,  with  another  glance, — 
"  By  Jove !  the  fellow's  beginning  to  dance." 


And  the  PRINCE  stood  amazed,  and  held  his  breath, 
To  see  the  mad  fool  making  sport  with  death. 

nd  one  of  the  humbler  attendants  said — 
While  his  hair  fairly  lifted  the  hat  from  his  head— 
'  My  hi !  if  hever  I  see  sich  a  go  ! 

e  can't  do  it ;  it  can't  be  expected,  you  know  ; 

e'll  certainly  falter  on  one  of  his  legs, 
And  kill  hisself  dead,  sure  as  heggs  is  hcggs." 

But  BLONDIN  went  over,  and  BLONDTN  came  back ; 
Did  it  over  again  with  his  feet  in  a  sack ; 


22  THE     PRINCE'S     VISIT. 

And  offered,  by  letter,  in  white  and  black, 
To  do  it  once  more,  with  the  PRINCE  on  his  back. 
But  the  DUKE,  in  the  gravest  alarm,  set  his  face 
Against  BLONDIN'S  back,  and  took  steps  apace 
To  quit,  at  short  notice,  so  dangerous  a  place. 

"They're  a  curious  people,"  the  DUKE  observed  ; 

"  A  trifle  shy,  and  a  little  reserved ; 

But,  whatever  they  take  in  their  heads  to  do, 

They  are  bound  in  a  hurry  to  carry  it  through, 

In  spite  of  the  President,  Kaiser,  or  Pope. 

They  will  not  resolve,  let  us  fondly  hope, 

That  you  shall  travel  pick-a-back  over  the  rope  ; 

But  if  once  they  make  up  their  minds  to  the  trick, 

They'll  be  certain  to  do  it  through  thin  and  through  thick  ; 

And,  unless  Your  Highness  has  safely  eloped, 

You  may  look  on  yourself  as  a  Highness  roped." 

So  the  PRINCE  wrote,  in  answer,  that,  danger  aside. 

He  did  not  approve  of  that  kind  of  ride. 

The  rope  might  be  strong — but,  apart  from  the  trouble, 

lie  had  much  stronger  doubts  if  ?t  would  carry  them  double. 

He  could  not  at  that  time  prolong  his  stay ; 

But  if  ever  he  chanced  to  return  that  way, 


THE      P  K  I  N  C  E  '  S      VISIT.  23 

te'd  be  glad  to  receive  Mr.  BLOXDIN'S  calls, 

see  the  Professor  repeat  liis  Falls. 
And  enclosing  a  cheque,  in  his  letter  of  thanks, 
On  one  of  the  South  Carolina  Banks, 1T 
Tore  himself  away  from  the  festive  halls 
Where  he  danced  one  night  at  Niagara  Falls. 

Then  one  endless  ovation  awaited  the  boy 

Who  is  Old  England's  hope  and  VICTORIA'S  joy. 

At  Hamilton,  Windsor,  and  then  at  Detroit, 

The  people  were  everywhere  ready  to  go  it 

the  fullest  extent  of  exciting  delight, 
t  Detroit,  where  His  Highness  arrived  at  night, 
hey  illumined  the  stream  with  such  blaze  of  light 

That  the  fish,  in  alarm,  made  a  rush  for  the  sea, ls 

As  affrighted  as  Michigan  fishes  could  be. 


en  on  to  Chicago,  where — says  the  narrator, 
ho  wrote  for  "  The  Ilobokcn  True,  Indicator  "- 
e  PRINCE  went  to  look  at  a  Grain  Elevator, 
ponderous  pile — an  enormous  affair — 
ith  hundreds  of  buckets,  all  solid  and  square, 
n  an  unending  chain,  running  up  in  the  air ; 


24  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

As  steady  as  clock-work,  and  wondrously  fleet, 
All  laden  with  plump  new  Western  wheat. 
Said  the  noble  DUKE,  with  his  smile  so  sweet, 
"Tis  a  great  contrivance,  and  'hard  to  beat.'  "20 

Then  away  to  the  prairies,  with  dog  and  gun, 

To  shoot  prairie-hens  and  enjoy  the  fun 

Of  having  a  jolly  good  prairie  run, 

And  eating  his  game  fresh  but  underdone, 

While  bronzing  his  face  with  our  September  sun. 

But,  what  is  of  greater  importance  yet, 

The  frolic  enabled  these  English  to  get 

Some  little  conception,  and,  what  was  best, 

Some  personal  knowledge — worth  all  the  rest — 

Of  what  people  mean  when  they  say  " the  Great  West" 

A  subject,  I  fear,  not  too  well  understood 

By  writers  who  come  here  for  personal  good, 

With  pens  of  brass,  and  with  heads  of  wood, 

And  ink  of  gall — a  dangerous  brood — 

To  describe  our  manners  from  what  they  hear 

In  seaport  drinking  shops  here  and  there. 

The  Great  West,  with  its  wells  of  boiling  oil ; 

Its  teeming,  friendly,  prolific  soil ; 

Its  prairies  boundless,  its  forests  tall ; 

Broad  acres,  offering  homes  for  all. 


THE    r  K  INGE'S    VISIT.  25 

Says  WENTWOBTH,  (LONG  JOHN,)  to  tlic  DUKE  by  his  side, 21 

"  How  long  do  you  think  it  would  take  to  ride, 

On  an  engine  that  never  its  speed  abates, 

Across  these  mighty  United  States, 

From  Atlantic  New- York  to  the  Golden  Gate 

On  the  great  Pacific,  and  destined  by  fate 

To  be  one  of  the  first,  though  she  came  in  late  2" 

The  DUKE  said  nothing,  but  nodded  his  head, — 

Which  meant  very  much  more  than  His  Grace  could  have 

said. 

"  It's  a  wonderful  country,  my  Lord,  this  is." 
And  the  DUKE  replied,  "  Well,  I  guess  it  is."  " 
And  he  said  no  more ;  but  he  thought  a  good  deal : 
And  what  he  was  thinking  of  made  him  feel 
Ashamed  that  Great  Britain  was  so  very  small ; — 
Proud  that,  spite  of  her  size,  she  was  greater  than  all 
To  be  found  on  that  side  of  the  water,  at  least ; 
"While  on  this — until  popular  liberty  ceased — 
Xo  matter  how  far  these  great  States  might  extend, 
It  was  England's  best  privilege  still  to  depend 
On  her  giant  young  rival,  but  no  less  her  friend. 

But  away  to  St.  Louis — Mound  City  she's  called — 
Where  again  and  of  course  His  Highness  was  "  balled," 
4 


20  .       TIIE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

And  treated  once  more  to  a  popular  spasm 

Of  wild  and  spontaneous  enthusiasm  ; 

Where  lie  witnessed  a  race  and  attended  a  fair, 

And  saw  how  they  managed  those  matters  out  there. 

Then  when  he  and  the  DUKE  had  performed  their  parts 

To  open  the  Western  School  of  Arts, 

And  received  a  great  farewell  serenade, 

Which  the  Western  Fire  Department  made, 

They  took  special  train,  or  it  took  them,  at  least, 

To  Cincinnati,  en  route  for  the  East. 

There  a  hall,  a  supper,  a  crush,  and  the  like, 

Took  place  in  the  Opera  House  of  PIKE  ; 

And  the  party  was  treated,  besides,  they  say, 

To  a  firemen's  brilliant  torch-light  display. 


It  was  here  that  a  certain  ambitious  Official 

Catechised  the  DUKE  in  manner  j  udicial. 

"  Cincinnati,  iny  Lord,  is  marked  out  by  the  fates 

As  the  greatest  of  cities  in  all  of  the  States. 

Has  Your  Grace,  in  your  wanderings,  happen'd  to  see 

Such  a  city  as  this  one  is — destined  to  be  ?" 

And  the  DUKE  replied,  a  trifle  incensed, 

"  It  will  be  a  great  place  when  it  comes  to  be  fenc'd."  ' 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  27 

Then  to  Pittsburg,  famous  for  coal  and  coke, 

Where  you  can't  see  the  houses  because  of  the  smoke  ; 

Then  to  Harrisburg  City,  where,  says  the  report, 

An  Irishman — one  of  the  genuine  sort — 

Believing  that  courtesy  could  not  express 

That  he  loved  the  PRINCE  more  or  Old  Ireland  less, 

Lent  His  Highness  a  team  of  fine  thorough-bred  grays 

For  the  time  that  he  stayed  there — a  couple  of  days. 

Xow  on  to  the  Capital,  passing  a  score 

Of  hundreds  who  waited  three  hours  and  more 

To  greet  him  while  passing  through  old  Baltimore. 

And  then,  when  the  journey  was  happily  done, 

And  the  PRINCE  and  his  suite  were  at  Washington, 

'T  was  delightful  to  see  Mr.  General  CASS 

Bringing  things  to  so  fearfully  pleasant  a  pass 

As  to  chain  up  his  rage,  like  a  male  Zenobia, 

And,  repressing  his  notorious  Anglophobia, 24 

A  welcome  sincere  to  His  Highness  extend, 

la  the  PRESIDENT'S  name — the  QUEEN'S  "  good  friend  ;" 

Who  behaved,  we  must  own,  like  a  Prince,  in  his  way, 

To  the  PRINCE  and  the  DUKE  ;  though  people  do  say 

It  was  precious  dull  work  for  all  parties  concerned,— 

So  much  etiquette  ruled  ; — and  etiquette  turned 


All  that  should  have  been  cheerful,  and  friendly,  and  gay, 

Into  stupid  routine,  reproduced  every  day. 

And  the  reason  was  plain :  Mr.  B.  had  so  tarried 

To  make  up  his  mind,  that  he  never  got  married  ; 

And  the  consequence  was,  when,  according  to  use, 

He  bethought  him  his  "  family  "  to  introduce, 

Its  principal  member,  the  wife,  was  not ; 

Two  nephews  and  one  niece  comprised  all  the  lot. 

When  a  ball  was  proposed,  that  singular  man, 

Exercising  his  privilege,  vetoed  the  plan. 

And  no  wonder, — the  motive  is  clear  at  a  glance : 

The  "  old  public  functionary  "  had  not  learned  to  dance  ;"6 

So,  giving  a  dinner  of  state  instead, 

He  dined  the  young  PKINCE  and  went  oif  to  bed. 

But  a  grateful  duty  awaited  the  son 

Of  haughty  old  England  at  Washington  ; 

A  privilege  graceful,  and  well  performed, 

Which  showed  how  two  nations  had  greatly  reformed 

The  feelings  that  formerly  rankled  in  hate, 

Now  frankly  removed,  though  removed  so  late. 

The  boy  paid  a  visit  of  love  to  the  tomb 

Of  the  patriot  noble  and  great,  of  whom 


i 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  29 

Such  bitter  and  wrongful  tilings  liad  been  said 
By  old  grandfather  GEORGE, — like  him  long  dead. 
Now  that  years  had  passed,  and  passion  had  fled, 
THE  sox  OF  THE  QUEEN  HAD  COME  OVER  THE  WAVE 

AND  PLANTED  A  TREE  UPON  "WASHINGTON'S  GRAVE. 

Now  I'm  not  superstitious ;  have  no  faith  in  ghosts ; 
Don't  believe  in  the  rappings  of  angelic  hosts ; 
But  that  "WASHINGTON'S  spirit  was  there  to  receive 
This  offering  of  peace,  I  am  free  to  believe ; 

.nd  I  know,  if  it  witnessed  the  scene  by  that  grave, 
That  the  soul  of  the  great  man  forgot  and  forgave. 
"  Of  evil  repented,  the  angels  are  glad  !  " 
Says  WASHINGTON'S  spirit,  and  blesses  the  lad. 

But  we  must  not  be  solemn  ;  we  read  this  to  laugh  : 

Let  us  rather  record  how  a  fine  photograph 

Of  WASHINGTON'S  homestead,  with  frame  ornamented, 

And  note,  also  well-framed,  were  duly  presented, 

By  Pliilp  &  Solomons,  of  "Washington,  D.  C., 

(Publishers  at  the  Capital,  between  you  and  me, — 

"Wherefore  "  Capital  Publishers  "  they're  stated  to  be  ; 

And  I'm  sure  I  don't  envy  these  parties  their  pains, 

If  they're  called  on  to  furnish  all  Congress  with  brains.) 


30  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

So  the  PRINCE  wrote  a  line,  liis  delight  to  confess, 
And  started  for  Richmond  by  special  express. 
Now  the  point  as  to  how  he  was  there  received, 
Depends  on  the  question,  who  should  be  believed  ? 
One  reporter  declares  he  was  cheerfully  greeted, 
The  other  asserts  lie  was  shamefully  treated ; 20 
And  the  truth,  between  both,  is  so  hard  to  find  out, 
We  had  better,  perhaps,  leave  the  matter  in  doubt. 

Then,  once  more  on  to  Baltimore,  where  again 

The  people  awaited  the  express  train, 

And  received  the  PRINCE  without  needless  form, 

13ut  with  real  Southern  welcome,  sincere  and  warm, 

In  the  city  renowned  for  historic  events, 

And  for  beautiful  women  and  monuments. 

Then,  of  course,  the  next,  most  important,  move, 
Was  to  visit  the  great  manufacturing  town — 
The  right-angled  city  of  Quaker  renown — 
Where  iron  and  steam  do  each  other  up  brown  ; 

The  city  renowned,  all  others  above, 

For  red  brick  and  hard  coal  and  true  brotherly  love. 

They  reached  Philadelphia,  the  papers  say, 
At  noon  on  a  State  election  day. 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  31 

An  upholstering  city  they  thought  it  at  first ; 
Though  they  afterwards  learned  that  the  people,  at  worst, 
Were  engaged  in  a  task  which,  in  this  special  case, 
Was  but  putting  a  CURTIN  up  in  a  very  high  place. " 
Yet  they  warmly  received  the  young  PRINCE  for  all  that, 
And  showed  him  the  city  so  square  and  so  flat, 
Yet  so  pretty ;  so  mantua-maker-like ; 
So  handsome  and  rich,  yet  so  Quaker-like. 

And  the  Mayor  of  Philamadelphia  came — a8 

A  curious  man  with  a  curious  name — 

In  a  hackney  carriage,  the  party  to  meet, 

And  the  PRINCE  in  the  name  of  the  city  to  greet ; 

(They  say  that  he  did  it  just  off  of  the  street ;) 

With  a  fearful  harangue,  a  mile  or  two  long, 

Which  he  spoke  as  though  he  were  singing  a  song ; 

And  happily  having  delivered  the  same, 

lie  turned  to  the  law-clerk,  who  with  him  came  : 

"  Shall  I  offer  to  shake  His  Highness's  hands  ?" 

"  Why,  of  course,"  said  the  clerk ;  "  don't  you  see  that 

he  stands 

With  palm  extended,  as  though  to  be  shaken, 
Ere  he  and  his  suite  can  be  properly  taken 


32  T  Ji  E    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

To  our  great  hotel,  with  facade  ornamental, 
And  grandiose  title,  the  superb  '  Continental  ?' 
And  say  something  witty,  and  pretty,  and  neat, 
To  puff  up  the  city  and  Chesnut  Street. 
Do  them  up  brown,  now,  and  don't  be  a  muff; 
I'm  sure  they  both  want  a  word  badly  enough." 

"  But  how  shall  I  do  it  ?    May  all  the  saints  serve  us  !" 
(The  Mayor  was  beginning,  you  see,  to  be  nervous  ; 
'T  was  no  task  to  deliver  the  written  oration, 
But  now  he'd  to  draw  on  his  imagination.) 

"  Ah !  true,"  said  the  Mayor,  "  very  true — very  true  ! 

And  how  docs  Your  Highness  do — that  is — yes — do  ? 

Fine  day ;  though  it  rained  last  night — last  night ; 

But  I  hope  Your  Highness  is  all  right — all  right. 

We've  an  election  here — I  mean  to  say 

We've  an  election  here  to-day — to-day. 

No  guns  to  fire — no  bells  to  ring  ; 

Election — ballot-box — that  sort  of  thing. 

Hope  you'll  excuse  us :  we  made,  I  declare, 

Rather  a  botch  of  that  last  affair  ; 

Not  used,  to  matters  like  these — like  these — 

And  bungled  the — what  do  you  call  ? — Japanese  !  " 


THE    PBINCE'S    VISIT.  33 

Though  even  in  that,  if  you  come  to  talk, 

Our  show  was  much  finer  than  that  of  New- York. 

In  short,  Sir,  the  fact  will  be  clear  to  you, 

That  this  is  the  much  better  place  of  the  two. 

New- York,  Sir — Your  Majesty — Highness  I  mean — 

Is  a  village  pretentious,  immoral,  unclean ; 

New- York,  in  a  word,  excites  nothing  but  pity, 

While  Philamadelphia,  as  you  see,  is  a  city  ; 

Whose  glory  is  not  based  on  mere  numeration 

Of  such  trifling  nonsense  as  bare  population. 

She  measures  her  greatness  in  numerals  round 

By  the  roods  she  takes  up  of  the  brick-paved  ground. 

Our  houses,  it  may  be,  are  squat,  small,  and  square, 

But  we  don't  encourage  no  brown  stone  here." 

(The  fist  of  the  clerk  came  down  like  a  hammer 

On  the  back  of  the  Mayor :  "  Take  care  of  your  grammar !") 

"  We  are  all  red  brick  here,  men  and  houses  together ; 
We  stick  to  prunello  and  don't  care  for  leather. 

We  don't  crowd  our  thoroughfares,  block  np  our  slips ; 

We  don't  fill  our  river  with  too  many  ships. 
We've  no  Broadway  here,  too  crowded  to  walk  in, 
And  much  too  noisy  to  venture  to  talk  in. 
5 


34  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

But  we'll  show  you,  Sir,  where  our  grand  monde  meet, 

On  the  beautiful  sidewalks  of  Chesnut  Street, 

Which  the  finest  promenade  in  the  world  stands  confess'd ; 

Where  three  men  and  one  boy  may  travel  abreast, 

With  space  besides  for  a  tortoise-shell  cat, 

And  abundance  of  room  to  swing  him,  at  that. 

In  short,"  said  the  Mayor,  who  so  oft  had  been  twitched 

By  the  clerk  that  he  thought  his  coat  had  been  hitched 

In  the  door  of  the  hack,  but  discovered  at  last 

That  his  time  for  speaking  had  long  since  past, 

"  In  short,  Philadelphia,  Your  Highness,  must  rank, 

In  virtue  of  having  once  fathered  the  crank 

And  very  unstable  old  National  Bank, 

As  of  all  this  great  Union's  cities  the  first, 

While  undoubtedly  New- York  is  plainly  the  worst. 

We  may  look  slightly  small  and  remarkably  flat, 

But  this  is  the  metropolis,  Sir,  for  all  that, — 

And  I  trust  you'll  at  once  recognize  us  as  such." 

"Oh  !  of  course,"  said  the  DUKE,  with  a  chuckle;  "yes — 
much !" so 

But,  joking  aside,  we  must  certainly  own, 
Now  that  the  thing  is  concluded  and  done, 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  35 

That,  taking  in  charitable  consideration 
The  excusable,  natural,  nervous  flustration, 
Which  must  have  been  caused  by  so  grave  an  event 
In  a  place  sorely  puzzled  to  know  what  it  meant — 
In  a  village  where  even  the  slightest  excitement 
Is  regarded  as  matter  for  fearful  affrightment — 

respect  to  reception,  procession  and  ball, 
The  inevitable  show  of  Independence  Hall, 

itli  the  few  public  buildings  which  made  up  the  rest, 
ear  little  Philamy  acted  her  best ; 
And  the  PRINCE,  though  he'd  seen,  when  he  bade  them 

good-by, 

That  they  rated  their  village  a  trifle  too  high, 
Was  very  much  pleased  with  the  place, — for  't  was  clear, 
If  ability  faltered,  the  intention  was  there. 

For  they  showed  him  the  College  of  world-renowned  fame, 

Known  all  over  the  earth  by  its  good  Founder's  name,— 

The  name  that  is  first  in  the  city's  regard, 

The  time-honored,  reverenc'd  name  of  GIKARD.  S1 

They  showed  him  the  Sclmylkill,  whose  waters  so  clear 

Were  described  by  TOM  MOORE  when  he  gossip'd  from  here. 

And  all  met  the  PRINCE  in  that  whole-souled  way 

Which  made  him  regret,  when  he  went  away, 

That  he  could  not  a  month  more  prolong  his  stay, 


3G  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

Bat  Princes  are  men  in  spite  of  their  state, 

And  men  are  but  creatures  of  rigorous  fate, 

And  fate  didn't  care  what  the  PRINCE  liked  to  do, — 

His  time  was  expended,  His  Highness  must  go  ; 

So,  packing  his  manifold  baggage  anew, 

He  bade  a  reluctant  but  grateful  adieu 

To  the  opulent  city  of  FRANKLIN  and  FITCH, 

And  PENN  or  PTOLEMY — the  Lord  knows  which. 

"A  good  man,  and  clever,"  said  the  DUKE  in  the  ear 
Of  the  PRINCE,  when  he  bade  a  farewell  to  the  Mayor ; 
"  His  manner  is  honest  and  pleases  me  well ; 
I've  no  doubt,  if  he  tried,  he  could  keep  a  hotel."  M 

And  now,  for  the  PRINCE,  came  the  critical  hour ; 

He  must  pass  through  the  land  of  an  alien  power, —  " 

A  power  not  yet  recognized  by  the  nations, 

Where  England  had  no  diplomatic  relations. 

But  while  in  Philadelphia  the  party  had  stayed, 

The  arrangements  had  all  been  most  cautiously  made ; 

The  United  States  Consul  at  Camden,  forearmed, 

Had  resolved  that  His  Highness  should  travel  unharmed, 

And  without  any  trouble  his  course  to  annoy, 

Through  the  length  of  New  Jersey,  as  far  as  Amboy. 


37 


And  precaution  was  needful :  on  the  preceding  day 
The  Jersey  newspapers  had  ventured  to  say, 

From  Caniden  we  hear 

That  a  Prince  from  somewhere 

Is  expected  down  there, — 

Being  likely  to  come, 

On  the  way  to  his  home. 

He  has  been  through  the  States, 

Our  informant  relates ; 

Who  cannot  declare 

When  this  Prince  will  be  here ; 

But  he  and  his  band 

Are  to  pass  through  our  land, 

And  so  forth,  and  so  forth, 

On  their  way  to  the  North. 
It  happily  chances  however  to  be 
The  rule,  in  New  Jersey,  to  tarry  and  see 
What  will  happen  to-morrow, — and  never  to  go 
And  look  after  a  fact  you  desire  to  know. 
So  the  Jerseyites  waited  fresh  tidings  to  hear, 
As  to  when  the  PRINCE  might  be  looked  for  down  there. 
And  they  waited  so  long,  and  they  waited  so  well, 
]t  was  only  last  week  that  the  papers  could  tell 


38  THE      r  K  I  N  C  E  '  S      VISIT. 

Their  readers  the  fact  that,  on  such  a  day, 

The  PKINCE  and  his  suite  had  come  through  that  way  ; — 

Which  indeed  he  did  without  any  delay, — 

And,  attired  in  citizen's  costume  plain, 

Embark'd  for  New- York  in  the  Harriet  Lane, 

Where  we'll  leave  him  awhile  to  the  fortunate  lot 

Of  a  long  conversation  with  General  SCOTT, 

(Whom  he  liked  so  well  he  regretted  to  leave  him,) 

While  we  see  how  Broadway  was  prepared  to  receive  him. 


PART  II. 


fEW-YOKK   AND   UNTIL    THE    DEPARTURE    FOR    HOME. 


'er  programme,  which  the  newspapers  publish  anew, 
The  PKINCE  is  to  be  here  precisely  at  two ; 
Though,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  has  to  go 
By  the  Camden  and  Amboy  line  so  slow, 
Many  doubts  are  expressed  if  His  Highness  can  be 
At  the  Battery  pier  before  half  past  three. 


Yet  the  people  in  various  groups  combine 
To  block  up  the  door-steps  by  half-past  nine. 
By  ten,  the  crowd  is  beginning  to  grow 
To  a  couple  of  hundred  thousand  or  so ; 
The  stages  are  ordered  away  from  the  street, 
And  the  stones  echo  nothing  but  human  feet. 


40  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

By  eleven,  the  sidewalk  so  closely  is  packed 
With  a  perfect  mobocracy,  cleverly  stacked, 
That  busy  Broadway  might  in  verity  seem 
One  vast  human  sausage,  parboiling  in  steam. 

The  windows  are  thronged 

As  though  they  belonged 

To  a  gaudy  tide 

That  lived  outside, 

And  weather  defied, 

But  took  it  a  pride 

To  be  espied 

By  a  Prince  on  his  ride. 

At  length  it  is  mid-day,  or  thereabout, 
And  then — the  tremendous  police  come  out ; 
And  all  that  was  peaceful  and  tranquil  before, 
Is  turned  to  confusion  sad  and  sore, — 
The  unquiet  policemen  beginning  to  hustle 
The  crowd  with  unseemly  confusion  and  bustle. 

"  Now,  come,  you !  get  out  of  that." 
"  Who  ?  me?  get  out  of  what  ?" 
"  Stand  back,  I  say,  or  by  jingo  I'll  make  you  !" 
"  What  am  I  doing  ?     Confusion  take  you  !" 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  41 

"  For  the  last  time  to-day,  get  out  of  the  way, 
Or  you'll  dearly  pay  if  you  disobey." 

"  The  deuce,  you  say  ! 
It's  all  very  well 
A  fellow  to  tell, 
In  such  a  pack, 
That  he  must  fall  back, 
When  there's  no  place  at  all 
Where  a  man  can  fall 
In  the  midst  of  such  crowds, 
Unless  he  fell  upwards  and  dropp'd  in  the  clouds." 

Then  an  Irishman's  voice, 
In  language  choice, 
Her  alarm  to  arouse, 
Demands  of  his  spouse, 
In  accents  wild, 
"  Oh,  Biddy,  acushla  !  wher^s  the  child  ?" 

And  the  woman  replies, 
Without  turning  her  eyes, 
"  Where  did  he  go  ? 
How  should  I  know  ? 
6 


42  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

But  he  must  be  here, 
I  suppose,  somewhere." 

Then  the  father,  unable  his  trouble  to  smother 

"  Oh !  worra  he's  gone ! 

Och,  hone !  och,  hone  ! 
Joseph,  my  jewel,  where  are  you  gone?" 

To  whom,  in  confident  tones,  the  mother : 
"  Och !  let  him  alone  ; 
He'll  be  sure  to  come 
In  good  time  to  his  home. 
It's  a  long  time  since 
I  seen  a  Prince  ; 
And  av  the  spalpeen 
Has  been  so  green 
As  to  go  asthray 
Along  Broadway, 
He'll  just  have  to  remain 
Till  he  comes  back  again  ; 
For  if  we  was  to  go 
To  git  our  Joe 
His  stips  to  retrace, 
"We  should  lose  our  place, 
And  divil  a  word  should  we  see  of  the  show." 


THE      PEINCE 


VISIT, 


"  Mein  Cott !  Mcin  Cott ! 

You  pctter  not 

Slitand  up  so 

On  de  dop  my  doe. 

I  cot  four,  fife  corns, 

So  pig  asli  horns. 

Just  you  keep  you  foots 

Insliide  you  own  poots, 

» 

Or,  I  gif  you  my  vord, 
You  never  haf  heard 
De  row  dat  I  make, 
Till  de  conshtable  take 
You  and  lock  you  up 
In  de  lock-up  shop." 


"  Olio,  young  hooman  ! 

You're  a  rum  'tin ; 

If  you're  out  o'  your  mind 

You'd  better  go  find 

A  place  in  some  mad  'ouse,  where  never  a  crowd 
Ain't  not  by  no  manner  of  means  allowed. 

But  vile  you  are  here,  it 

Vill  be  best  to  bear  it 


44  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

In  mind  that  my  pride 

Yon't  never  abide 
A  young  hooman's  helbows  a  punchin'  my  side. 

Here !  what  are  you  about  ? 

You're  hawful  stout, 

And  you're  crowdin'  me  out 
Over  the  gentleman  here  in  front ; 
If  you're  not  very  deaf  you  may  hear  him  grunt, 
And  I'm  rather  afeard  that  he's  troubled  with  gout." 

"  Sacre  tonnerre ! 

You  villain,  sare, 

You  shall  beware ! 

It  is  my  femme 

Is  not  to  blam. 

If  Monsieur  have  got  ze  gout, 
He  do  very  wrong  zat  he  come  out ; 

But,  Bare,  I  don't  care ; 

Is  not  my  aifair." 

"  Hollo,  little  Froggy  !  none  of  your  squibs  ; 
Let  your  wife  keep  her  helbows  out  my  ribs." 

"  Monsieur  Jean  Bull, 
You  big  fool ! 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  45 

My  wife  stand  here  pon  her  ease ; 
She  put  her  elbow  vere  she  please." 

"But,  you  stupid  blackguard, 
Your  wife's  helbows  are  'ard." 

"Again,  I  don't  care  ; 

Zat's  not  your  affair. 

What's  zat  to  me  ? 

Ze  country  is  free. S4 

You  keep  you  ribs,  if  you  don't  want  strife, 
Out  of  ze  elbow  of  my  wife." 

Such  prattle  as  this,  both  coarse  and  fine, 

Runs  loosely  along  the  whole  length  of  the  line  ; 

"Which  by  two  o'clock  becomes  so  dense, 

The  patient  crowd  is  now  so  immense, 

That  it  seems  that  nought  but  a  shower  of  rain 

Can  ever  get  Broadway  clear  again. 

And  a  mounted  policeman  solemnly  rides 
Up  and  down  each  gutter,  to  flatten  the  sides 
Of  the  human  mass,  as  a  plasterer  might, 

Had  the  people  been  sticks, 

Or  piles  of  bricks, 
That  had  come  to  Broadway  to  see  the  sight. 


46  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

So  each  side  of  the  street  is  a  human  wall, 

Running  firmly  across  the  crossings  and  all ; 

And  every  one  waits ;  when, — taken  aback, — 

The  disgusted  police  find  a  clog  in  the  track  ! 

A  dog  of  a  kind  that  you  seldom  see, — 

The  dog  of  a  certain  foreign  M.  D. 

Now  it  needs  no  argument  here  to  maintain 

That  clearly  the  Doctor's  dog  may  not  remain  ; 

"  The  street  must  be  kept  clear  of  every  obstruction  ;" 

The  orders  admitted  no  other  construction. 

Yet  a  dignified  light  of  the  drug  profession 

Had  got  his  big  dog  in  before  the  procession. 

And  the  poor  policemen  are  running  about 

To  endeavor  to  get  the  huge  animal  out ; 

But  this,  as  the  police  are  clearly  aware, 

Is  not  to  be  done  short  of  Madison  Square. 

And  here  was  the  dog,  never  ceasing  to  bark, 

Up  and  down  between  Anthony  Street  and  the  Park. 

Their  means  were  few  and  their  hopes  were  fewer, — 
The  dog  was  too  big  to  squeeze  into  the  sewer  ; 
The  street  was  full,  all  the  crossings  were  blocked, 
And  all  the  front  doors  of  the  shops  were  locked  ; 
The  second-floor  windows  were  full  of  the  fair ; 
You  never  could  hurl  the  great  brute  up  there ; 


-   • 


<7 


'/,/&/&*<<!• 
-  dfa*; 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  47 

And  't  was  no  use  to  cast  him  up  into  the  air — 
He'd  be  sure  to  come  down, — for  what  did  lie,  care? 
There  was  nothing  in  prospect  but  Madison  Square. 
So  a  squad  of  policemen,  quite  red  in  the  face, 
Were  deputed  to  manage  this  new  dog  chase, 
'Mid  the  jeers  and  the  shouts  and  the  laughter  loud 
Of  the  greatly  delighted,  applauding  crowd. 

But  hark  !  there  are  guns  and  cheering  below, 

Distant  at  first,  and  faint  and  low, 

But  gathering  strength  as  the  boat  draws  near. 

"  It  is  three  o'clock  ;  when  will  he  be  here  ?" 

Asks  the  feminine  voice  of  a  female  slender 

Of  the  gent  at  her  side,  in  accents  tender. 

"  Well,  not  before  four,"  her  lover  replies  ; 

"He has  to  hear  speeches,  portentous  and  wise,. 

With  which  Messrs.  SANDFORD  and  WOOD  will  bore  him, 36 

And  read,  in  reply,  what  the  DUKE  writes  for  him  ; — 

Besides,  if  the  papers  are  right,  I  suppose 

It  will  take  him  some  time  to  get  into  his  clothes." 

"  To  get  into  his  clothes  ?  Why  you  don't  mean  to  say, 
Though  the  weather  is  warm  on  this  very  fine  day, 
That  a  Prince  would  presume  to  come  here  all  this  way 


48  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

Without  any" "  Oh,  no  !  You  misapprehend. 

The  papers  announce  that  the  party  intend 
To  wait  till  the  PRINCE  has  exchanged  his  attire 
For  the  surcoat  of  scarlet  with  bullion  wire, 
Which  marks,  as  is  shown  in  the  tailors'  cards, 
The  rank  of  a  colonel  of  Grenadier  Guards." 

x 

But  bang  !  goes  the  cannon,  and  bang !  again,  louder  ; 

We  can  see  the  blue  smoke  from  the  burnt-up  gunpowder ; 

And  a  terrible  shout  goes  up  from  the  crowd, 

A  shout  that  is  earnest  and  hearty  and  loud, — 

A  shout,  never  echoed  before  nor  since, 

Goes  up  in  Broadway  :  "  The  PRINCE  !  The  PRINCE  !" 

For  there  in  the  distance  dimly  is  seen, 

Filing  into  Broadway  from  the  Bowling  Green, 

A  gallant  escort,  and  in  front  of  the  band 

A  single  horseman,  with  truncheon  in  hand, 

Just  as  in  pictures  of  old  we  see 

A  noble  Prince  as  a  Prince  should  be ; 

And  far  up  Broadway  the  shouts  extend, 

Along  the  whole  street,  from  end  to  end. 

But  strange  tho'  it  may  be,  't  is  very  clear 
That  the  cheering  stops  as  the  troop  draws  near, 


THE      PKINCES      VISIT.  49 

And  the  populace,  too  uncivil  by  half. 

Change  the  welcome  cries  to  a  hearty  laugh  : 

For  the  band  is  a  troop,  not  of  war,  but  of  peace  ; — 

'Tis  a  squad,  in  short,  of  the  new  police. 

And  the  person  in  front  receives  the  hints 

Of  the  crowd  that  he's  not  in  the  least  like  a  Prince. 

In  fact,  it  is  Superintendent  JONES, 

On  a  horse,  and  praying  the  saints  for  his  bones. 

And  how  they  ride  !  oh,  me  !  how  they  ride ! 
Each  man  with  his  toes  in  the  next  horse's  side ; 
And  their  elbows  akimbo,  as  wanting  to  see 
How  much  like  a  goose  a  policeman  can  be. 
With  shoulders  well  bent  to  soften  the  pace, 
And  anguish  depicted  on  every  face, 
Which  by  turns  is  pale  and  exceedingly  red, 
As  it  finds  itself  over  the  animal's  head, 
They  bump,  as  the  horses  are  jogging  along, 
As  though  to  proclaim  that  if  they  belong 
To  the  regular  cavalry  force,  that  same 
Is  more  than  they  know  or  pretend  to  claim. 

But,  by  this  time,  the  "  Simon  Pure  "  PKINCE  has  stood 
Before  the  municipal  chief,  Mayor  WOOD, 


50  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

Who  has  had  the  good  sense,  if  never  before, 
To  speak  what  was  needful,  and  say  nothing  more. 
His  remarks,  indeed,  to  be  aptly  translated, 
Might  thus,  in  a  word,  be  with  brevity  stated  : 

"  Your  Highness  !  the  city  we  are  going  to  show  you— 
New- York — is  both  proud  and  delighted  to  know  you. 
I  am  Mayor  of  the  city,  and,  by  the  same  rule, 
This  party's  V*N*I*E  and  this  one  is  B*'**E, 
Both  of  which  names,  I  have  no  doubt  at  all, 
Under  your  notice  have  happened  to  fall, 
If,  perchance,  you  have  heard  of  the  Japanese  Ball, — ' 
Worthy  citizens  both  as  ever  were  born." 

Whereupon  sotto  voce  the  DUKE,  "in  a  horn."  : 

The  PKINCE,  in  reply,  expresses  delight, 

At  the  really  and  truly  magnificent  sight 

Which  had  greeted  his  eyes,  every  mile  of  the  way, 

Up  the  noble  and  utterly  peerless  bay  ; 

And  he  thanked  New- York  in  an  epigram  good, 

A  compliment  scarcely  too  well  imderstood, 

As  a  city  that  boasted  a  head  of  "  Mere  Wood." 

He  regretted  to  leave,  but 't  was  time  he  should  dress, 

Which  His  Honor  requests  he  will  do  by  express, — 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  51 

While  His  Grace,  my  Lord  DUKE,  opportunity  takes 
To  beg  that  His  Highness  will  " hurry  his  cakes."5 

At  length  all  is  ready  ;  His  Highness  appears 

On  a  horse,  which  with  spirit  curvets  and  rears, — 

Which  any  horse  would  that  royalty  bears, 

As  the  orthodox  custom  so  strictly  declares. 

And  the  company  forth  from  the  garden  ride, 

To  behold  a  display  that  IsTew-York  in  her  pride 

Deems  a  fitting  show,  on  the  day  so  fair, 

That  sees  her  receiving,  in  welcome  here, 

The  lordly  boy  who  is  England's  Heir. 

There,  ready  for  peace  or  for  war's  alarms, 

With  the  sunlight  gilding  their  shining  arms, 

Stand  the  citizen  soldiers  in  martial  array, 

Which  induces  the  DUKE  in  a  whisper  to  say, 

"  Many  armies  I've  seen,  but  never  a  line 

More  splendid  than  this  one,  more  steady,  more  fine ; 

And  if  they  should  have  soldiers'  duty  to  do, 

I  reckon  they'd  turn  out  hard  nuts  for  the  foe."  : 

"Hard  nuts,  Sir!"  says  B***E;  "and,  pray,  what  would 
you  do  ? " 

<;  Dry  up,"  says  the  DUKE  ;  "  I'm  not  speaking  to  you."  4e 


52  THE    TEINCE'S    VISIT. 

And  the  Alderman,  snubbed,  thinks  he'd  best  go  away, — 
Which  he  does,  and  is  seen  not  the  rest  of  the  day. 
Says  the  DUKE,  "  I'm  delighted  ;  it's  just  as  I  hoped ; 
I'm  exceedingly  glad  that  the  party  has  sloped."  " 

But  now  in  a  canter  the  PKINCE  spurs  his  charger, 

The  martial  battalions  grow  longer  and  larger, 

The  band  plays  the  anthem  that  prays  for  his  mother, 

Each  soldier  salutes  him  as  soldier  and  brother, 

The  flags  dip,  with  cordial  welcome  to  meet  him — 

Not  in  homage — but  friendship  and  good  will  to  greet  him. 

And  the  l>oy  proudly  gazes  the  squadrons  along  ; 

For  he  reads  in  the  glances  that  come  from  the  throng, 

That  the  features,  the  bearing,  the  blood,  are  the  same 

That  over  the  sea  with  the  old  Pilgrims  came. 

His  people  and  these  differ  only  in  name ; 

And  if  England  should  e'er  want  a  friend,  and  a  kind  one, 

In  the  day  of  her  trouble,  it  is  here  she  shall  find  one. 

"  Now,  General  SANDFORB,"  says  the  PKINCE, 

"Are  you  expecting  to  convince 

His  Grace  the  DUKE  and  me, 

That  the  soldiers  we  now  see 

Are  clerkg,  and  shopmen,  and  the  like, 

Who  are  thus  prepared  to  strike, 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  53 

If  occasion  ever  comes, 

For  their  country  and  their  homes?" 

"  I  do,  indeed,  Your  Royal  Highness," 

Says  General  SANDFORD  with  some  shyness ; 

Though  he  didn't  mean  to  mince 

Matters,  even  with  a  Prince. 

"  Your  Highness,  all  these  men 

Are  only  soldiers  now  and  then ; 

Arms  are  not  their  occupation, — 

Rather  more  their  recreation  ; 

Yet  they're  good  shots  at  the  targets, 

Though  they're  posted  on  the  markets.  " 

They  certainly  are  strangers 

To  real  war  and  all  its  dangers  ; 

But  if  occasion  should  arise 

When  these  boys  must  win  the  prize 

Of  martial  valor  and  emprise, 

I  rather  think  they'll  do 

Their  duty  good  and  true." 

"  So  do  I,"  cries  the  DUKE—"  a  few."  4S 

Said  the  PRINCE,  "  I  won't  detain  them  ; 
But  tell  me  how  you  train  them. 


54  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

'Tis  not  easy  to  conceive 
How  mechanics  can  receive 
Such  a  military  air 
As  these  noble  fellows  bear." 

"  Oh  !  that,"  says  SANDFOKD,  while 
He  breaks  into  a  smile, 
"  Is  simple  and  quite  plain, 
As  I'll  endeavor  to  explain : 
For  the  spice  of  the  affair, 
"We've  a  certain  SPICER  here, 44 
"Who  o'ersees  the  drill  of  all ; 
And,  by  assistance  of  a  HALL,  46 
"We  soldierize  the  men." 

"Good  for  you!"  says  the  DUKE;  " Call  again." 46 

But  now  the  battalions  are  ready  to  move ; 

The  bands  play  the  airs  that  all  Englishmen  love, 

And  the  cortege  moves  forward  in  martial  array 

Up  the  noblest  of  thoroughfares,  splendid  Broadway 

Such  a  crowd  as  the  Englishmen  never  had  seen 

Divided  to  let  the  bright  host  pass  between, 

The  mass  was  as  dense  as  a  mass  could  be  ; 

'T  was  like  walking  in  midst  of  another  Red  Sea  ; 


THE    PKINCE'S    VISIT.  55 

For  the  waves  that  were  piled  up  on  every  side, 
To  allow  the  procession  in  triumph  to  ride, 
Had  been  dangerous  waves,  were  the  spirit  suppressed 
A  spirit  of  trouble,  sedition,  unrest. 

But  those  men  made  the  laws  which  they  would  not  in 
fringe  ; 

So  they  would  not  be  rude,  but  they  never  would  cringe 
Before  royalty  even ;  but  proud  and  erect, 
With  decorum  perhaps  the  PKINCE  did  not  expect, 
They  shouted, — as  none  but  a  New- York  crowd 
Can  shout  a  welcome,  robust  and  loud ; 
A  welcome  to  make  the  PKINCE  glow  with  pride 
"When  he  stands  again  by  his  mother's  side, 
And  tells  what  those  New-York  shouts  aver, — 
That  in  welcoming  him  they  are  honoring  her. 


So  gaily  the  PKINCE  and  the  party  ride ; 
England's  meteor  flag  streams  on  every  side ; 
And  they  come  to  the  Park,  where  the  Notables  all 
"Wait  to  be  introduced  in  the  City  Hall. 

Up  to  this  time,  all  went 
As  though  the  event 
Had  by  some  friendly  genius — 
St.  George  or  St.  Nich'las — 


56 


Been  cleverly  planned, 

To  astonish  the  bland 

And  most  excellent  DUKE, 

Whose  delighted  look 

Most  clearly  evinced 

That  His  Grace  was  convinced 

The  arrangements  were  such 

As  conferred  very  much 

Of  credit  and  fame 

On  the  city's  good  name. 

But,  alas  and  alack 
For  the  great  drawback ! 
If  SANDFOKD  and  WOOD 
Could  have  just  understood 
That  a  crowd  belated 
Had  patiently  waited 
From  nine  A.  M., 
(A  long  time  for  them,) 
Without  wanting  to  go 
Till  they'd  seen  the  show  ! 

If  SANDFORD  and  WOOD 
Had  but  understood 
The  axiom  good, 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 


5T 


Universally  known, 

That  to  let  well  alone 
Is  the  very  best  thing  that  a  body  can  do ! 
But,  no !     They  must  order  another  review. 4T 

What  matter  to  them, 

At  3.30  P.  M., 

If,  to  see  the  troops, 

Some  hundreds  of  groups 

Of  ladies  in  hoops, 

And  thousands  of  beaux 

In  holiday  clothes, 

From  the  districts  adjacent, 

Were  waxing  impatient, 

After  waiting  all  day 

On  the  stones  of  Broadway, 

Or  on  top  of  the  roofs 

Of  tall  fire-proofs, 

Hanging  over  the  leads, 

Peeping  over  the  heads 

Of  others  more  fortunate 

Or  more  importunate, 

Who  had  the  best  places 

To  exhibit  their  faces ; 

While  others,  less  lucky, 

Or  may -be  less  plucky, 
8 


58  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

Were  but  too  glad  to  find 
Little  corners  behind. 
Where  their  only  repose 
Was  to  stand  on  their  toes, 
And  peep  as  they  could 
Through  chinks  in  the  wood, 
Through  holes  in  the  wall, 
Through  mortar  and  all, 
Or  wink  and  blink 
And  watch  and  think 
To  spy  out  old  SANDFORD 
Over  some  sign-board, 
Or  to  look  out  behind 
A  Venetian  blind, 
Or  a  curtain  of  chintz, 
Till  they  saw  the  PRINCE  ! 

If  SANDFORD  and  WOOD  had  but  thought  of  these ! 
But  they  didn't.    They  first  had  their  party  to  please ; 
And  all  that  they  cared  for,  the  vain  old  elves, 
Was  to  have  the  fine  show  all  alone  to  themselves. 
And  the  consequence  was,  when  they'd  fully  enjoyed 
The  second  review,  and  the  troops  had  deployed, 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  59 

It  had  fallen  so  dark  that  few  Spectators  could 
Understand  which  the  PRINCE  was  and  which  was  Mayor 

WOOD, — 

For  they  both  rode  np  in  a  carriage  together. 
And  it  still  is  a  question  of  interest  whether 
The  PRINCE  or  the  Mayor  was  puzzled  the  more 
To  recall  having  sat  in  such  comp'ny  before. 

At  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Thirteenth  Street 

Stood  a  rustic,  whose  name  I  may  not  repeat, 

Who  with  new-married  spouse  had  that  morning  come 

down, 

From  one  of  the  far  rural  districts,  to  town. 
His  lady  had  ne'er  seen  a  Prince  in  her  life, 
And  lie  thought  he'd  afford  that  great  treat  to  his  wife. 
In  a  copy  of  last  week's  Squam  Telegram  48 
They  had  brought  some  slices  of  home-cured  ham, 
In  sandwiches,  smeared  with  a  kind  of  brown  custard, 
Or  some  such  queer  stuff  they  intended  for  mustard. 
And  they  waited  and  waited,  till,  patience  outdone, 
They  believed  they  had  come  to  the  wrong  place  for  fun. 
At  noon  they  grew  hungry,  and  both  having  munched 
At   the   queer-looking  sandwiches,   thought    they    had 

lunched ; 


60  THE    PEINCE'S    VISIT. 

And  still  they  waited,  four  hours  and  more, 
"With  patience  they  never  had  shown  before, — 
Till  the  lady,  and  even  the  man,  much  stronger, 
Declared  they  "  never  could  stand  it  no  longer ;" 
She  was  loth  to  go,  but  she  would  not  remain 
If  she  could  not  do  so  without  suffering  pain. 
So  the  husband  away  to  the  corner  was  sent, 
"With  the  lady's  instructions  to  invest  to  extent 
Of  six  cents,  for  a  chair,  or  what  he  might  hit  on, 
For  his  wife  and  himself  in  rotation  to  sit  on  ; 
And,  after  a  very  few  moments'  delay, 
The  rustic  in  triumph  returned  to  Broadway, 
"With  his  cautious  investment — the  cunning  young  fox- 
In  the  shape  of  an  empty  but  stout  soap-box. 

So  by  turns  they  sat ; 

And  I'll  tell  you  what, 
The  sight  in  itself  was  worth  a  crown  ; 
For,  when  he  was  up  his  lady  was  down, 
To  the  vast  delight  of  that  end  of  the  town. 

Still  nought  was  to  see  and  nought  was  to  hear ; 
The  PRINCE  didn't  come,  and  'twas  doleful  to  bear; 
For  SANDFORD  and  WOOD  had  got  him  down  there. 
The  lamps  had  been  lit  and  the  night  was  here ; 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 


61 


?heir  stomachs  were  empty  ;  the  prospect  was  drear, — 
'or  beds  in  New- York  are  remarkably  dear, 
'et  they,  like  thousands  of  others,  must  go, 
Without  having  seen  any  more  of  the  show 
Than  hosts  of  soldiers'  gay  pompons  and  coats, 
In  the  light  which  so  dimly  before  them  floats, 
And  some  men  in  a  coach,  which,  the  shouts  evince, 
Carries  one  who,  no  doubt,  is  His  Highness  the  PRINCE. 

Hi,  General  SANDFORD  and  Mr.  Mayor  WOOD  ! 
[f  both  of  you  gentlemen  only  had  stood 

In  the  midst  of  that  crowd, 

And  had  heard  aloud 

Its  anathemas  deep, 

'T  would  have  spoiled  your  sleep 

For  a  week,  I'll  be  bound ; 
Fnless  you  can  sleep  most  outrageously  sound. 


hit,  all  this  notwithstanding,  and  nevertheless, 
ic  affair,  on  the  whole,  was  a  splendid  success. 
The  PRINCE  was  delighted  ; 
The  suite  were  excited  ; 
The  police  were  affrighted  ; 


62  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

And  every  one  saw 
That,  but  for  the  law, 
Mayor  WOOD  most  assuredly  would  have  been  knighted. 

And,  as  for  His  Grace, 

His  jolly  old  face 

Beamed  over  with  joy, 

Like  the  face  of  a  boy. 

And,  when  the  Mayor  said  that  he  hoped  the  reception 
Had  not  fallen  short  of  His  Grace's  conception 
Of  what  New- York  would  do  to  let  it  be  seen 
How  greatly  she  honored  the  Son  of  the  QUEEN, 

The  DUKE,  gratified, 

In  these  words  replied : 

"  I'm,  indeed,  at  a  loss 

To  express,  old  Hoss, "' 

The  feelings  that  now  round  my  old  heart  cling. 
AVe  are  grateful,  indeed.     'T  was  a  very  big  thing. 60 
I  assure  you  I  never  was  so  overcome  ; 
And  I'll  write  a  most  ample  account  of  it  home. 
I'm  too  tired  now,  but  I'll  write  by-and-by ; 
And,  meanwhile,  let  us  liquor — I'm  excessively  dry —  " 
Drink  with  you  instead  ?     Well,  I'm  sure  I  don't  mind  ; 
But  something  I  must  take  ;  I  want  it  worst  kind."  " 


THE      PRINCES      VISIT.  63 

So  all  was  over  and  happily  done, 

With  much  excellent  feeling  and  plenty  of  fun. 

Then  for  three  succeeding  days  the  whole  town, 
Or  all  of  its  folks,  came  and  sat  themselves  down 
Before  the  Fifth- Avenue  hostelry,  where 
The  PRINCE  and  his  suite  were  puzzled,  I  fear, 
To  conceive  what  amusement  the  people  could  find 
In  inspecting  the  walls  which  he  lived  behind. 

owever,  the  thing  was  exceedingly  clear, 
at  the  most  that  the  people  desired  to  hear 
"Was  the  fact  that  their  guest 
Had  enjoyed  his  rest, 
And,  whatever  befell, 
That  the  PRINCE  was  well, 
nd,  happily,  this  was  indeed  the  case  ; 
Health  shone  in  the  tints  of  his  English  face. 
He'd  but  one  attack  while  he  stayed  in  the  city— 
n  attack,  it  appears,  of  the  Ball  Committee :  " 


ho,  suffering  under  a  fearful  congestion 
Of  views  concerning  the  white-waistcoat  question, 
Applied  for  some  hints, 
To  His  Highness  the  PRINCE, 


64  THE    PRINCE'S     VISIT. 

As  to  whether  't  was  right 
That  vests  of  pure  white, 
With  black  pants  and  coats— 
Per  the  lithographed  notes —  bl 
Should  perforce  be  the  rule 
Of  the  elegant  school 
Of  manners  polite. 
Set  down  for  the  night 
When  the  great  affair, 
Now  under  their  care, 
Which  the  people  call 
"The  Prince's  Ball," 
Should  haply  come  off. 

But  the  PRINCE,  with  a  laugh, 
To  the  DUKE  referred  this  momentous  point. 
But  His  Grace  said  his  science  was  out  of  joint, 
And  on  matters  like  these  was  not  to  be  boasted  ; 
He  could  not  declare  himself  thoroughly  posted  ; 65 
Old  parties  like  him  could  not  be  Amphytrions  ; 
They'd  do  better  to  ask  his  good  friend,  my  LORD  LYONS. 
But  His  Lordship  distinctly  and  flatly  refused, 
And  begged  that  diplomatists  might  be  excused 
From  saying  a  word  on  the  white-waistcoat  plan  ; 
"  But  there's  ARCHIBALD,  now  ;  he's  a  ladies'  man."  BT 


THE      PRINCES      VISIT.  G5 

Here  the  Consul  grew  instantly  red  in  the  face : 
u  I  know  nothing,"  said  he,  "  in  regard  to  this  case. 
I  think  that  a  tailor  had  better  declare 
What  you  and  the  rest  of  the  folks  ought  to  wear." 

So  the  grand  Committee  went  off,  in  a  fuss, 

The  "  white-waistcoat "  question  again  to  discuss ; 

And  all  that  they  gained  by  their  visit  that  day, 

Was  the  right  to  their  numerous  cronies  to  say, 

With  that  accent  of  humble  and  ill-suppressed  pride 

Which  reveals  the  joy  that  is  working  inside, 

"  We  happened,  by  chance,  to  be  passing  that  way, 

jid  we  made  a  sliort  call  on  the  PRIXCE  to-day, 
remarkably  fine  and  intelligent  youth, 

rith  his  father's  nose  and  his  mother's  mouth, 
jpoke  the  same  to  me  as  I'm  speaking  to  you  : 

;  Ah !  Co*r*K,  old  fellow,  and  how  do  you  do  ?' 

. 

PH*L*S,  my  boy,  will  you  have  some  wine  ? 
>r,  if  you  prefer  it,  remain  and  dine.' ': 

Tow,  concerning  the  ball,  I've  but  little  to  say. 
When  the  theme  was  young, 
It  was  cleverly  sung 

By  the  author  satirical,  learned  and  witty, 
Who  wrote  the  brochure  so  well  known  in  the  city — 
9 


66  THE      PKINCES      VISIT. 

The  caustic  book, — with  the  famous  heading, — 
In  verse,  and  entitled  "  The  Diamond  Wedding." 

What  I  saw  befall 

At  "The  Prince's  Ball," 

Let  me  briefly  relate ; 

For,  at  half-past  eight, 

(Xot  having  a  card, 

For  I  thought  it  hard 
To  have  to  petition  and  take  off  my  luit 
For  a  ticket,  and  pay  ten  dollars  at  that,) 68 
I  got  myself  cleverly  smuggled  inside, 
In  the  tube  of  a  monstrous  ophicleide,. 
By  a  friendly  musician,  to  whom  one  day 
I  presented  an  "  order  "  to  hear  "  Broadway."  59 

And  I  saw  young  women  most  handsomely  dressed  ; 

With  diamonds, — which,  it  must  be  confessed, 

They  had  hired  from  TIFFANY'S  show-case,  lest 

The  PRINCE  might  suppose  that  their  rank,  at  best, 

Must  be  traced  to  a  codfish,  by  way  of  crest, 60 

On  an  oyster-sauce  field  to  make  up  the  rest. 

And  hope  in  their  faces  was  plainly  expressed ; 

For  they  fervently  prayed  for  only  a  chance, 

That  Ills  Highness  the  PRINCE  would  ask  them  to  dam 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  67 

And,  indeed,  I  don't  wonder  they  wished  for  his  hand, — 
For,  of  all  that  white-waistcoated  masculine  band, 
There  were  few  who  could  dance  with  the  sweet  little  dears, 
Since  not  many  were  much  under  fifty -five  years ; 
For  our  "  solid  "  old  men,  having  furnished  the  tin, 
Thought  it  nothing  but  right  that  they  should  go  in 
And  inspect  the  PKINCE  and  his  party,  while 
They  showed  him  true  Manhattan  fashion  and  style. 

So  the  gentlemen's  heads  made  a  sea  of  white  hair, 
Well  mingled  witli  bald  pates  here  and  there, — 
A  mixture,  indeed,  that  might  almost  seem 
Like  hard  apple-dumplings  floating  in  cream. 

And  not  the  least  worthy  of  one's  observation 
Was  the  delicate  drift  of  the  soft  conversation : 

"  There,  Sarah  Jane, 

You've  done  it  again ! 

You've  torn  my  dress! 

There's  such  a  press " 

"  It  wasn't  I,  Ma ! 

Can't  you  see  it  was  Pa  ? 

But  it's  no  great  harm." 

"  It's  terribly  warm ; 


68  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

I  know  I  shall  faint. 
And  lose  all  my  paint." 
"  There's  the  PEIXCE  !"     "  No,  it  ain't ; 
I'll  bet  a  quarter 
He'll  wear  the  garter." 
"  "Well,  so  he  may  ; 
But  can  you  say, 
If  he  does  do  it, 
How  we  shall  know  it? 
We  each  of  us  wear 
Of  garters  a  pair, 
And  nobody's  eyes 
Can  recognise 
Such  things  as  these 
On  a  person's  knees." 
"  But  his  will  be  seen, — 
For  the  thing  I  mean 
It  is  English  pride 
To  wear  outside." 
"  What  a  very  queer 
And  droll  idea!" 

Then  one  old  girl, 
With  her  hair  in  curl, 


V 

2ta» 


J  -*' 


69 


From  the  rural  districts, 

Has  the  hyst'rics, — 

And,  in  a  stupor, 

Calls  PETEK  CO*P*R, 

To  his  very  face, 

"  Your  Highness'  Grace !" 

In  a  rustic  whim 

Mistaking  him, 

With  his  black  coat-tails, 

For  the  PRINCE  OF  WALES. 

Mr.  Co*r*R  flushes, 
And  really  blushes 
From  the  very  roots 
Of  his  hair  to  his  boots, 
(Crimsoning  quite 
The  waistcoat  white, 
Which  makes  him  doubt 
If  they'll  turn  him  out.) 
"Madam!"  says  PETER, 
In  solemn  metre, 
With  manner  tarty, 
"  I'm  not  the  party. 
There  are  many,  I  know— 
At  least,  I  hear  so — 


70  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

Whom  it  happens  to  strike 
That  I'm  not  unlike 
His  Highness  in  face ; 
It's  a  very  hard  case 
That  people  will 
Persist  in  still 
Believing  me 
What  I've  no  intention  whatever  to  be." 

But  the  music  plays ; 

And  several  ways 

The  people  look 

For  the  PRINCE  and  DCKE. 

"  Oh,  let  me  see ! 

That's  he !  that's  he !" 

That's  he,  indeed ;  and  the  ball  begins. 

Mrs.  Governor  MORGAN  the  honor  wins 

Of  His  Highness's  hand  for  the  first  quad  rill  e,- 

Then  polkas,  and  waltzes,  and  redowas  still. 

The  fun  waxes  furious,  jolly  and  hot, 

And  many  a  girl  of  that  brilliant  lot 

Is  anxious  to  catch  His  Highness's  glance, 

In  the  hope  that  he'll  single  her  out  to  dance. 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  71 

The  giddiest  of  crowds  is  hopping  about, 
Wearing  their  pump  boots  cruelly  out ; 
PETEB  CO*P*R  is  wild  with  ecstatic  delight, 
And  PH*L*S  declares  it's  a  brilliant  sight ; 
And  all  is  mirthful  and  happy,  when — "  Oh ! 

Ah!  Oh!  Ah!  Oh!" 

Like  a  flash, 

Crash,  dash ! 
Smash ! 

Clang,  bang ! 

"Hollo!  Hollo! 
Where  the  deuce  are  we  going  to  go  ? 

What's  become  of  the  floor? 

Let  us  rush  for  the  door ! 

Is  it  an  earthquake  ? — 

No !  only  a  floor-break."  61 

And  PETER  CO*P*R — what  does  he  do  ? 

Sticks  to  the  PRINCE  like  a  man  of  glue  ;  M 

lie  doesn't  falter,  he  doesn't  wince, 

But  he  rushes  about — "  Here !  save  the  PRINCE  ! 

Leave  everything  else ;  every  effort  make ; 

Save  the  PRINCE,  for  the  poor  Committee's  sake ; 

For,  if  he  be  hurt,  he  will  never  be  able 

To  behold  the  display  at  the  banqueting  table." 


72 


Though  it  seems  to  have  first  and  already  occurred 
To  His  Highness,  before  PETER'S  outcry  was  heard, 
That  if,  for  any  one's  sake  alone, 

It  was  well  that  his  safety  should  soon  be  made  known,- 
He  had  better,  perhaps,  see  to  that  for  his  own. 

But  the  floor  is  mended  and  all  is  made  right, 

And  they  dance  in  style  till  long  past  midnight ; 

And  they  have  the  magnificent  supper  beside, 

In  which  the  Committee  take  so  much  pride. 

And  thus  terminates  the  glitter  and  glare 

Of  this  monstrously  dull  but  most  gorgeous  affair  : 

And  the  PRINCE  goes  to  bed  and  has  the  nightmare ; 

For  the  principal  cook  and  all  of  his  helps 

Ride  astride  of  his  chest,  led  by  Co*r*R  and  PH*L*S. 

The  rest  of  the  story  is  very  soon  told. 

Much  American  work,  in  silver  and  gold, 

The  PRINCE  and  the  DUKE  spent  the  half  of  a  day 

In  buying  of  BALL,  BLACK  &  Co.,  in  Broadway. 

Mr.  BALL  did  himself  the  high  honor  to  wait 

On  His  Highness  the  PRINCE, — and  oh,  fortunate  fate ! 

By  friends  and  relations,  assistants  and  all, 

He  is  known  to  this  day  as  "  The  Prince's  BALL." 


THE    PKINCE'S    VISIT.  73 

He  liked  our  libraries, — the  Astor  most. 
Where  COGSWELL  met  that  remarkable  ghost.  M 
lie  saw  the  Academy,  frowning  and  dark,  M 
Holding  many  a  monkey,  goose,  and  lark — 
An  exclusively  human  Noah's  Ark. 
Then  he  planted  two  trees  in  the  Central  Park ; 
"Went  to  BRADY'S,  and  GURNET'S  ;  and  paid  a  visit 
To  BARNUM'S,  to  see  what  was  the  "  What  is  it  ? " 

"  'T  is  a  singular  thing,"  said  the  PRINCE  ;  "  but  I  thought, 

From  the  way  that  the  artist  the  likeness  has  brought, 

On  the  painting  outside,  to  the  public  eye, 

That  the  animal  really  was  taller  than  I. 

What  is  it,  indeed?     I  thought  'twould  be  bigger." 

"  Well,  I  kind  o'  calculate,"  said  the  DUKE,  "  it's  a  nigger." 69 

"  I  am  really  surprised,"  said  the  PRINCE,  "  at  its  size. 

Can  it  be  Mr.  BARNUM  himself  in  disguise  ? 

'T  would  be  quite  in  accord  with  the  showman's  plan." 

% 

" Not  he,"  said  the  DUKE ;  "no  1  nor  any  other  man  ;— - "' 
'T  is  one  of  those  hogs,  too  lazy  or  sly, 
Who,  refusing  to  root,  had  been  forced  to  die, "8 
10 


74:  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

But  that  BARNUM  has  bought  him  for  small  amount, — 
An  unfortunate  nigger  of  no  account.'' 

Then  the  firemen  turned  out  on  the  Saturday  night, 
And  turned  night  into  day  with  the  blaze  of  light 
From  thousands  of  flaming  torches  flung, 
As  the  masses  down  Broadway  strode  along. 

Then,  on  Sunday,  old  Trinity  Church  came  out 

In  a  way  that,  without  any  manner  of  doubt, 

Put  Grace-Church  BROWN'S  pipe  most  completely  out.  M 

The  next  day,  on  to  Dutch  old  Albany,  where 
He  thought  the  old  town  but  a  poor  affair ; 
And,  indeed,  in  the  season  of  freshets,  I  hear 
That  the  water's  so  cheap  and  the  land  is  so  dear, 
That  the  city's  not  very  much  here  nor  there. 

| 

But  the  following  day  they  made  matters  worse : 
They  took  him  to  Boston,  that  city  perverse, 
And  showed  him  the  "  hub  of  the  universe," ' 
With  Governor  BANKS  for  the  principal  felloe, — 
A  very  nice  man,  but  remarkably  yellow. 


Here  they  gave  him  the  regular  Union  thing, 
For  he  heard  our  great  foreign  artists  sing, 
With  the  genuine,  true  Teutonic  ring, 
The  national  air  inspiriting  : — 

"  'T  is  de  Shtar-Shbanklcd  Fanner ! 

Und  lonk  may  she  wave 
O'er  de  land  of  de  free 

Und  de  home  of  de  brave !  " 

Then  to  Portland  His  Highness  was  hurried,  to  meet 
The  squadron  detached  from  Her  Majesty's  fleet, 
Awaiting,  as  anxious  the  waters  to  roam 
And  convey  the  PKINCE  back  to  his  insular  home. 

For  the  Portlanders  this  was  a  great  event ; 
It  consoled  the  Maine  people,  to  some  extent, 
For  the  great  disappointment  they  underwent — 
A  disappointment  cruel  and  hard  to  bear — 
When  the  Great  Eastern  flatly  refused  to  go  there. 71 
So  madly,  indeed,  was  their  joy  expressed, 
That, — the  popular  feeling  unrepressed, — 
When  the  PEINCE  and  his  party  had  finally  gone, 
They  "  whittled  "  the  plank  that  he  last  stcpp'd  upon 


76  THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT. 

Into  tooth-picks,  the  rest  of  the  nation  to  fleece, — 
For  they're  selling  them  still  at  a  quarter  a-piece, 
And  have  quite  a  magnificent  business  made, 
To  the  vast  increase  of  their  lumber  trade. 

So  the  PKINCE  and  the  DUKE  repaired  on  board, 
Where  the  broad  Blue  Peter  reluctantly  soared — 
The  signal  for  turning  once  more  towards  home. 

And  tears  in  the  eyes  of  the  DUKE  have  come, 
As  he  says  to  the  PKINCE,  "  Those  States  are  some. 7t 
'T  is  a  people  noble, — a  nation  great, — 
"With  a  present  disturbed  ;  but  a  glorious  fate 
In  the  far-off  future.     For,  though  they're  quick, 
And  with  angry  language  a  trifle  too  slick,  " 
There  are  reason  and  right  and  judgment  clear 
In  the  Saxon  blood  that  predominates  there. 
They  may  suffer  trouble,  and  noise,  and  all  that, 
But 't  will  pass  and  be  gone  again  quicker  'an  's  cat.  " 
They  are  brethren  of  ours  and  brethren  together ; 
They'll  survive  the  storms  of  political  weather. 
Their  Union's  their  strength, — and  may  God  forefend 
That  that  Union  should  really  be  brought  to  an  end 


THE    PRINCE'S    VISIT.  77 

By  the  passion  or  pride  of  obstinate  fools 

At  the  North  or  the  South.     For,  while  reason  rules, 

They'll  stick  together ;  and  then,  by  thunder ! 

Let  all  who  oppose  them  stand  well  from  under. 7i 

While  united,  whatever  the  land  may  betide, 

They  are  England's  best  friends  and  her  noblest  pride. 

"  Adieu,  then,  my  country  !"  the  old  DUKE  cried ; 
"  For  an  Englishman  still  finds  his  place  at  thy  side  ; 
And  on  thy  friendly  shores — though  on  thine  alone — 
No  difference  finds  he,  no  change  from  his  own. 
Mayest  thou  still  be  the  favorite  child  of  the  Fates ! 
MAY   GOD   BLESS   AND   PRESERVE   THEE,   THOU   UNION  OF 
STATES  !  76 


NOTES. 


1  "  Hire  coaches  !  Purchase  gloves  /" 

When  the  Japanese  Princes  were  "received"  in  New- York,  in  the 
summer  of  1860,  at  a  cost  of  $105,000,  the  Aldermen  and  Common  Council- 
men  appeared  in  the  procession  in  carriages,  hired  at  the  expense  of  the  city 
and  at  a  charge  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  American  livery  stables.  The 
"  City  Fathers,"  as  members  of  the  Corporation  are  called  (probably  in  allu 
sion  to  that  other  abominable  old  cannibal,  SATURN,  who  consumed  his  own 
children),  besides  wearing  waistcoats  of  very  "loud"  patterns,  made  them 
selves  conspicuous  d  Voutrancc  by  appearing  in  enormous  yellow  gloves, 
which  fitted  their  hands  with  remarkable  exactitude.  The  city  paid  also  for 
these  articles  bills  of  a  magnitude  more  than  corresponding  with  the  size 
of  the  gloves.  The  Aldermen  fondly  hoped  that  at  the  reception  of  the 
PRIXCE  OF  WALES  they  would  again  be  permitted  to  indulge  in  the  luxury 
above  referred  to,  but  they  were  disappointed. 

2  "  The  loyal  Blue-noses  a  welcome  have  blown." 

The  term  Blue-noses  has  been  applied  to  the  inhabitants  of  Nova  Scotia  : 
on  what  grounds,  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain,  and  can  only  imagine 
that  the  personal  compliment  conveyed  in  the  phrase  was  intended  to  infer 
a  criticism  on  the  extreme  severity  of  the  winter  in  that  country. 

3  "As  having  received  his  grandfather  before  him" 

His  Royal  Highness  the  DUKE  OF  KENT,  father  of  the  present  QUEEN, 
visited  Nova  Scotia  in  the  year  1799,  and  was  warmly  welcomed  by  the 
hospitable  inhabitants  of  that  province. 


80  NOTES. 


4  "  Convinced  him  that  Orange  fanatics  are  fools" 

The  Orange  disturbances  during  the  PRINCE'S  stay  in  Canada  are  too 
familiar  to  the  reader  to  require  any  comment  here. 

6  "  To  keep  Mr.  Bennett  religiously  posted" 

Mr.  JAMKS  GORDON  BENNETT  is  the  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  well- 
known  New-York  Herald — information  which  would  be  superfluous  to  any 
but  the  foreign  reader.  The  word  "  posted  "  is  a  current  phrase  of  commer 
cial  derivation,  signifying  "  informed." 

8  "  Now,  he'd  had  no  end  of  polite  invitations" 

The  newspapers  of  the  time  teemed  with  offers,  authorized  and  other 
wise,  of  mansions  which  their  owners  desired  to  place  at  the  disposal  of 
His  Royal  Highness  during  his  stay  in  this  city.  The  Fifth  Avenue, 
which  is  the  Belgravia  of  New- York — most  of  the  houses  in  which  street 
are  built  with  "brown-stone  fronts" — was  especially  forward  in  these  mani 
festations  of  hospitality. 

7  "  That  a  messenger  went,  His  Highness  to  meet, 
On  behalf  of  the  Rainbow,  in  Beekman  Street" 

A  modest  but  respectable  house,  kept  by  an  Englishman,  but  in  the 
heart  of  the  business  portion  of  the  city,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  what 
is  known  as  "  The  Swamp,"  where  the  hide  trade  is  chiefly  conducted, — a 
district  not  likely  to  be  visited  by  His  Royal  Highness. 

8  "  Was  the  one  that  was  sent  from  the  far-famed  Spingular" 

The  Spingler  Institute — tortured  into  Spingular  to  meet  the  tyrannical 
exigencies  of  the  rhyme — is  one  of  the  first  and  most  respectable  academic 
institutions  in  the  country,  and  is  known  and  appreciated  in  every  State  in 
the  Union. 

*  "An  A*b*t  so  sleek  holds  the  principal  chair" 
The  Head  of  this  Institution,  Mr.  OORHAM  ABBOTT,  is  a  gentleman  of  high 
literary  ability;  but  his  rather  lengthy  letter  to  the  newspapers,  attempting 
to  show  reason  why  the  PRINCE  should  occupy  the  Spingler  Institute  in 
preference  to  any  other  house  in  New- York,  caused  much  comment  at  tLe 
tune. 


NOTES.  81 


10  "  '  Which  one  shall  I  choose  f     Said  the  Duke,  '  Nary  one.'  " 

This  expression  has  been  generally  adopted  by  the  fast  young  men  of 
the  day  to  convey,  in  an  abbreviated  and  somewhat  corrupt  form,  "Ne'er 


11  "  Said  (he  Duke,  with  a  nod,  'You  had  better  believe  it."1 " 

"  You  had  better  believe  it,"  illustrates  the  American  desire  to  arrive 
dircftlv  ftt  a  point  without  wasting  too  many  words  over  the  argument.  It 
assumes,  as  a  foregone  conclusion,  a  wish,  on  the  part  of  the  individual 
addressed,  to  be  correct  and  to  arrive  at  a  truthful  understanding  of  the 
mutter  in  question,  and  intimates  the  Credat  Jtidicus  in  an  absolute  rather 
than  an  ironical  sense. 


12  "  A  very  short  note  to  her  very  '  f/ood  friend?" 

The  letter  by  which  Her  Majesty  informed  Mr.  BUCHANAN,  then  l'rc.-i- 
dent  of  the  United  States,  that  her  son,  the  PRINCE  OK  WALES,  would  vi>it 
America,  was  couched  in  the  following  simple  and  unaffected  terms,  which 
helped,  in  no  small  measure,  to  strengthen  and  confirm  the  feeling  of  affec 
tion  and  good-will  with  which  Her  Majesty  is  regarded  by  all  Americans: 

V 

"  BUCKINGHAM  PALACE,  June  22,  I860. 

"My  Good  Friend, — I  have  been  much  gratified  at  the  feelings  which  prompted  you 
to  write  to  me,  inviting  the  PRINCE  OF  WALES  to  come  to  Washington.  He  intends  to 
return  from  Canada  through  the  United  States;  and  it  will  give  him  great  pleasure  to  have 
an  opportunity  of  testifying  to  you,  in  person,  that  these  feelings  are  fully  reciprocated  by 
him.  He  will  thus  be  able,  at  the  same  time,  to  mark  the  respect  which  he  entertains  for 
the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great  and  friendly  state  and  kindred  nation. 

'•The  PRISCK  OF  WALKS  will  drop  all  Royal  state  on  leaving  my  dominions,  and  travel 
under  the  name  of  LORD  RENFREW,  as  he  has  done  when  travelling  on  the  Continent  of 
Europe. 

"The  PRINCE  CONSORT  wishes  to  be  kindly  remembered  to  you. 

"  I  remain,  ever  your  Good  Friend, 

"VICTORIA  R." 


13  "  Should  drop  every  princely,  imperial  fnr  in" 

AYith  most  becoming  good  taste  it  was  arranged  that  the  PIU.M  K,  on 
visiting  t'.ie  great  republic  of  the  North,  should  drop  all  superior  title,  which 
might  be  supposed  to  be  out  of  favor  with  republics,  and  appear  simply  as 
BAHM.N  KKNKKKW.  !"</<•  Note  1 '2. 

11 


82  NOTES. 


14  "Who  wants  to  sec  Barons?     They're  plenty  enough" 

The  baronial  distinction  lias  not  hern  uncommon  in  America  since  the 
tide  of  emigration  has  set  in  so  freely  from  Germany.  There  are  now  many 
persons,  severally  engaged  in  soap-boiling,  lager-beer-brewing,  the  manufac 
ture  of  blacking,  <tc.,  <frc.,  who  lay  claim  to  this  title  in  their  own  Yalerluml. 

16  "'You've  got  me  there,  where  my  hair  /x  xhnrt.'  " 

A  common  expression,  and,  sooth  to  say,  perliaps  a  vulgar  one,  but 
which  is  very  current  with  Young  America.  I  have  not  been  able  distinctly 
to  trace  its  origin;  but  it  is  said  to  have  reference  to  a  fashion  which  pre 
vailed  in  this  country,  a  few  years  ago,  of  cutting  the  hair  on  the  back  ol' 
the  head  very  short,  and  to  a  habit  which  the  street  boys  had  of  directing 
pellets,  through  pea-shooters,  at  persons  promenading  Broadway,  whose 
heads  had  been  so  treated.  "  Take  him  where  hi<  hair  is  short,"  one  urchin 
would  say  to  another;  and  the  expression  passed  into  a  proverb  to  indicate 
a  point  of  vantage  over  an  adversary  in  argument. 


16  "  One  of  tlic  /xirfi/  sun'  niomllii  come  out." 

Mr.  BLONIUX  repeatedly  perilled  his  life,  to  the  uncontrollable  gratifica 
tion  of  an  enlightened  public,  by  cros-ini;-  the  Falls  of  Niagara  on  a  rope 
stretched  across  that  fearful  chasm. 


17   "  Oil  one  of  the  South   C<<roliita 
The  Banks  of  South  Carolina  had  just  suspended  specie  payments  when 
The  Prince'.-  Visit  "  \vas  first  brought  out. 


18  "  That  the  fait,  lit  alurm,  i/nn/c  u  rush  for  the  sea." 

If  the  reader  will  have  the  kindness  to  consult  the  map,  he  will  observe 
what  a  fine  time  the  Michigan  tish  must  have  had  of  it,  if  they  really  carried 
into  effect  their  daring  attempt  to  reach  the  Ocean. 

10  "]\'ho  wrote  for  •  The  ILMen  True  Indicator:" 

lloboken  is  a  transfluvial  suburb  of  New-  York,  being  situated  on  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  Hudson,  and  therefore  in  the  State  of  Ne\\  -Jersey  ; 
notwithstanding  which  last-named  fact,  there  exists  a  certain  degree  of 


NOTES.  83 


civilisation  among  the  inhabitant?.  The  Teutonic  element  largely  predomi 
nates  in  the  population,  and  it  is  said  that  layer  bier  is  regularly  taken  in 
at  the  areas  in  the  morning,  as  milk  is  with  us.  I  believe  they  have  a 
Mayor  in  Iloboken,  who  occupies  his  civic  chair  every  Sunday,  at  fresco,  in 
tin-  Champs  Elytes,  Oit  ''  Elysian  Fields,"  (so  called  from  their  being  any 
thing  but  fields  and  having  nothing  whatever  Elysian  about  them,)  in  the 
suburbs  of  that  suburb.  I  also  learn  that  Iloboken  enjoys  the  municipal 
blessing  of  a  "Board"  of  Aldermen  and  Common  (I  am  told  extremely 
common)  Councilmen.  There  are,  besides,  two  (or  more)  newspapers 
published  in  the  classic  solitudes  here  spoken  of.  I  have  never  seen  the 
prints  in  question ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  editorial  articles  given  to  the 
world  in  those  columns  exercise — as  anything  emanating  from  New-Jersey 
would — a  most  powerful  influence  on  the  destinies  of  the  republic. 

20  u  <  i  rp  -y  (/  tjri,a(  cuiiffit'ancc.  dud  Inird  to  beat."1 " 

The  motto  of  Xew-York — "Excelsior'" — governs  the  American  mind  in 
everything.  Not  being  a  profound  people,  like  the  Germans  or  the  Chinese, 
(the  nations  who  are  most  given  to  boring  the  world  with  metaphysics 
about  which  the  world  in  general  does  not  care  two-pence,)  they  do  not  seek 
in  lowest  depths  a  deeper  still,  unless  an  oil  or  artesian  well  be  in  question; 
but  they  love  to  find  a  higher  to  every  highest,  a  cap  for  every  climax, 
and  a  better  to  every  best.  Indeed,  it  would  not  surprise  me  to  hear 
one  day  that  they  had  invented  a  card  competent  to  take  the  ace  of  trumps. 
To  employ  language  which  will  be  best  understood  on  the  Mississippi  llivcr, 
they  will  "see"  anything  that  anybody  can  do,  and  "go  you  ten  better." 
There  may  in  reality  be  a  great  deal  of  "brag"  in  this  ;  but  it  nevcrthch-x 
is  the  national  characteristic.  They  are  never  content  with  what  is ;  because 
what  is  is  never  good  enough  for  them.  Whenever,  therefore,  they  view 
anything  accomplished,  although  they  may  admire  it,  their  admiration  is 
always  mingled  with  a  calculation  of  the  means  to  excel  the  performance 
which  has  been  successful.  It  will  readily  be  understood,  from  the  foregoing 
remarks,  that  the  admission,  by  an  American,  that  a  work  accomplished  is 
Imnl  (difficult)  to  beat,  (to  be  excelled  or  surpassed.)  is  intended  as  the  highest 
compliment  he  can  pay. 

21  "Says  Went(i'<>r(/i,  (Lv/iy  Jo/tn,]  (<>  the  Duke  fit/  ///'\  xidr." 

f'ol.  "\VEXTWORTH  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  Illinois,  or, 
as  Mr.  DICKKNS  would  more  aptly  say,  "one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  in 
our  country."  • 


84  NOTES. 


22  "  And  tie  Duke  replied,  l  Well,  I  f/  it  ess  it  is.'  " 

I  believe  our  English  cousins  already  know  that  to  "guess"  is  a  habit 
with  the  American,  as  well  in  his  social  life  as  in  his  ordinary  conversation. 
He  will  "gness"  on  the  very  smallest  provocation  and  in  the  most  delicate 
detail.  Tell  him  your  Christian  name,  and  he  will  "guess"  your  surname. 
and  vice  versa.  Inform  him  of  the  street  you  live  in,  and  he  will  "  guess"  the 
number  of  your  house.  Present  him  to  your  wife,  and  he  will  "  guess"  her 
age  and  impart  to  you  the  result  of  his  "estimate."  lie  will  "guess"  how 
much  you  paid  for  your  coat,  and  how  much  you  owe  your  tailor  on  last 
year's  bill. 

All  this  would  imply  a  certain  hardihood  of  assertion  ;  but  it  is,  in  fact. 
rather  a  desire  to  obtain  information  on  points  which  do  not  in  the  least  con 
cern  him;  and  it  moreover  betrays  indecision  in  making  a  statement,  lest  it 
should  be  regarded  as  open  to  denial.  "Does  it  rain?''  you  will  say  to  an 
American  who  has  just  come  in,  thoroughly  wet,  from  the  street.  "  Well,  I 
guess  it  does,"  will  be  the  reply  ;  —  and  a  sage  one  ;  for,  says  the  philosopher, 
"  Nothing  is  certain.  I  believe  that  I  exist,  but  I  do  not  know  it.  I  doubt 
everything.  I  even  doubt  that  I  doubt."  The  American  mind,  on  this  prin 
ciple,  is  philosophical  —  I  guess. 


53  "  '  It  will  be  a  yrcdt  j>l«ce  n'/trn  if  comcy  to  be  fenced.''  " 

To  speak  of  fencing  a  place  "  around,"  as  was  done  by  old  GRIMKS.  with 
his  "garding,"  so  celebrated  in  ballad  poesy,  is  derisively  to  invest  it  with 
a  certain  degree  of  mock  perfection.  It  is  common  to  speak,  for  example,  of 
New-Jersey  as  likely  to  be  a  threat  State  "  when  it  comes  to  be  fenced." 


"And,  rejtrcffainf/  his  notorious 


(Jen.  OASS,  the  distinguished  statesman  who  held  the  seals  of  the  State 
Department  under  Mr.  JUviiAXAX,  earned  for  himself,  during  the  earlier 
years  of  his  career  —  justly  or  not,  I  do  not  presume  to  say  —  a  reputation  for 
being  antagonistic  to  England  and  English  interests,  and  rather  prejudiced 
against  the  government  and  people  of  that  country. 

26  "  The  'old  public  functionary*  //"</  n»t  Irnrncd  t<>  </<//ice." 

Mr.  BCCHAXAX  so  styled  himself  in  a  lachrymose  document,  indited  by 

him  at  the  commencement  of  the  unhappy  national  troubles  now  pending. 


NOTES.  85 


20  "  One  reporter  declares  lie  was  cheerfully  greeted, 
The  other  asserts  he  was  shamefully  treated." 

The  Reporter  of  the  Xrir-York  Ti»ir*.  who  travelled  with  the  royal  party, 
stated  that  at  Kiehmond  His  Highness's  carriage  was  followed  for  some  dis 
tance  by  a  mob,  who  hooted  and  otherwise  behaved  coarsely,  after  the 
manner  of  what  the  lower  classes  of  whites  in  the  South  term  "southern 
chivalry."  The  Richmond  journals  indignantly  denied  the  accusations  of 
the  TiiiK-x. 

27  "  Was  but  putting  a  Cur/in  u/>  In  a  very  hiyh  place" 

On  the  day  of  the  PRIXCK'S  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Ct'RTix  was 
elected  Governor  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

28  "And  the  Mayor  of  Philamadelphia  came" 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  is  sometimes  so  called,  in  rather  unmerited 
derision,  by  New-Yorkers.  Referring  to  my  remarks  in  the  preface,  however, 
J  would  observe  that  the  Philadelphia  press  does  not  lose  many  opportuni 
ties  of  ridiculing  New-York  and  its  inhabitants : — hence  the  little  and  rather 
undeserved  fling,  in  the  text,  at  our  sister  city. 

28  "  And  bungled  the — what  do  yon  call? — Japanese /" 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  a  few  months  prior  to  the  arrival  of  the 
PRINCE  OF  WALKS,  an  Embassy  from  Japan  visited  the  United  States,  and 
was  afflicted  with  a  public  reception  in  Philadelphia  and  New- York,  among 
other  important  cities  of  the  Union. 

30  "  '#//  /  of  cou  n«'.'  x<i'«l  the  Duke,  with  a  chuckle ;  'yes — mncli  !' ' 

"  Much  "  is  used  ironically,  in  the  same  sense  as  the  phrase  of  Shakspeare 
which  is  frequently  amplified  to  read  "very  much  like  a  whale." 

31   "  The  time-honored,  n-ren-nc'd  mime  of  Girard." 

STEPHEN  GIRARD  is  remembered  in  Philadelphia,  with  respect  and  vene 
ration,  as  a  philanthropist  who,  beginning  life,  like  LAKITTK,  with  nothing 
but  an  honest  purpose  and  a  determined  will,  achieved  wealth,  which  he 
used  lavishly  in  works  of  benevolence  and  charily.  The  (Jirard  (.'olle^v  is 
one  of  the  proudest  monuments  of  individual  philanthropy  on  this  Continent. 


86  NOTES. 


32  "'/'/v  n<>  (]<>no/.  'if  Ic  /ri«t.  /if  could  keep  u  hotel.' '" 

The  greatest  test  of  merit  in  certain  localities  in  the-  "West,  is  the  ability 
to  keep  a  hotel.  If  a  man  ean  successfully  perform  the  delicate  and  com 
plicated  duties  of  the  landlord,  he  is  adjudged  competent  to  act  a<  minister 
of  state,  first  tenor  in  an  opera,  editor  of  a  newspaper,  colonel  of  engineers, 
commodore  of  the  Mediterranean  squadron,  or  President  of  the  United 
States. 

!3  "He  must  pass  through  the  land  of  an  alif/i  power" 

The  thriving  and  stirring  little  State  of  New-Jersey  is  out  of  favor  with 
New-Yorkers,  owing  chiefly  to  a  tax  which  the  State  n-overnment  imposes 
on  every  passenger  going  over  the  railroads,  and  which  is  felt  to  be  onerous 
by  commercial  men  travelling  from  New-York  to  Philadelphia  or  between 
the  Eastern  and  Southern  states.  The  Jerseyites  have  also  acquired  or  been 
invested  with  the  character  of  a  "slow"  people,  and  the  State  is  therefore 
generally  spoken  of  derisively  as  being  "out  of  the  United  States."  The 
gibe,  however,  has  lost  all  its  fun  in  these  sad,  sad  days  of  "  secession." 


34  "'Zc  country  is  free?" 

"  The  country  is  free,"  is  a  remark  which  is  unhappily  made  to  do  service, 
as  an  excuse,  in  a  variety  of  cases  where  license  is  mistaken  for  orderly 
liberty.  Any  one,  however,  who  knows  the  abuse  which  is  only  too  fre 
quently  made  of  the  wor.l  fi-«-<l,ui  in  the  United  States,  will  understand  the 
melancholy  mi-interpretation  here  referred  to. 

'"  "Mr////  which  Messrs.  Sandford and  Wood  //•/'//  I>ore  him.'" 

General  SAXDFORD,  and  Mr.  WOOD.  Mayor  of  the  city,  were,  <  r  «///<•/<•, 
the  most  prominent  of  those  citi/eiis  to  whom  was  delegated  the  honor  of 
receiving  the  PKISTK  in  New-York. 

18   "  '  //',  [it  rc/iancc.  i/on  hn re  hennf  of  //,/•  JajxnuxC  Jiull."  " 

The  ball  given  by  the  city  in  honor  of  the  Japanese  Princes  was  so 
miserably  and  vulgarly  conducted,  that  every  re<pectahle  citi/en  regarded  it 
with  horror  and  has  remembered  it  with  disgust — feelings  which  were 
expressed  without  stint  \\henthe  liill  of  exjienses  was  presented.  Thousands 


NOTES.  87 


of  bottles  of  champagne  which  figured  in  that  precious  document,  had  been 
lavishly  wasted  by  a  class  of  persons  whose  ordinary  drink  was  whisky, 
whole  dozens  having  been  handed  by  them  to  their  friends  and  political 
supporters  in  the  street,  whose  tastes  had  never  before  aspired  beyond  New- 
England  ruin.  The  most  costly  ornaments  were  either  broken  or  abstracted 
by  persons  who  had  gained  admission  to  the  supper-room  ;  and,  in  short,  the 
scene  is  said  to  have  been  little  better  than  a  civic  orgie. 

37  "  Whereupon,  .tot  to  roce,  the  Duke,  '  In  a  horn.'  " 

"In  a  horn"  is  an  ironical  term,  implying  a  decided  negative.  It  is 
Mimetiines  employed  as  an  equivalent  to  the  elegant  English  inquiry,  "  Don't 
you  wish  you  may  ^ct  it  ':" 

"To  bey  that  His  Hiyhness  will  '  hurry  his  cakes?  " 

To  "  hurry  up  your  cakes  "  is  a  common  observation,  expressive  of  the 
"  go-aheaditiveness"  of  the  American  people.  Europeans  who  have  visited 
America,  are  doubtless  familiar  with  a  highly  indigestible  compound,  called 
buckwheat  cakes,  which  arc  served  hot,  and  eaten  with  butter  or  mola--e~, 
according  to  the  taste  and  fancy  of  him  who  eats.  In  boarding-houses,  these 
circles  of  vegetable  flannel  form  the  principal  feature  of  every-day's  break 
fast,  —  (like  all  indigestible  food,  they  are  of  a  very  satisfying  nature,  and 
very  few  of  them  go  a  very  far  way,)  —  and  as  every  boarder  covets  buck 
wheat,  and  is  moreover  in  a  violent  haste  to  get  through  the  troublesome 
process  of  breakfasting,  the  unfortunate  servant  is  overwhelmed  with  adjura 
tions  to  "hurry  up  those  cakes,"  —  whence  the  saying. 

39  ili  I  reckon  they'd  (itr/t  out  hard  nuts  fur  the  foe.'  " 

"  Hard  nuts  to  crack"  is  a  form  of  expression  that  comes  to  us,  1  believe, 
from  England,  and  implies  a  difficulty  to  be  overcome. 

40  "  '  Dnj  »j),'  *(,iyx  the  Duke  ;  '  Ptn  not  xj>c<iki/t;/  to  you.'1"' 


"  Dry  tip,"  With  Other  cxpres-ions  having  the  same  meaning,  —  such  as 
••  shut  up,"  "  evaporate,"  ''  stow  it,"  —  owes  its  origin  to  the  Western  State-. 
It  implies  that,  although  the  party  addressed  may  physically  remain  in  the 
presence,  he  must  not  appear  in  the  conversation. 


NOTES. 


that  (lie   Hirtii  //ay 


To  "slope"  is  to  glide  away  unnoticed,  to  "  take  French  leave,"  to  depart 
without  previous  notification  to  creditors,  or  to  quit  company  under  circum- 
>taiices  not  creditable. 

42  "'  Thoityh  they're  posted  on  tin-  markets.''" 

For  the  meaning  of  the  word  "posted,''  /•-',/,  Note  No.  5. 
43  "  '  So  do  i;  cries  the  Duke—'  u  few:  " 

••  A  few"  is  intended  to  express,  ironically,  a  very  great  deal,  or  a  \er\- 
great  many,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  English  sayings,  "rather,"  "slightly 
so,"  Ac. 

14  "'  We've  a  certain  fyiccr  lie  re.'  " 
43  "'Antt,  IHJ  oxx'ixtuHce  of  a  HalV  " 

Generals  SPICER  and  MALI,  are  Cenerals  of  Brigade  of  the   New-York 

State  Militia. 

46  "'  Good  for  yon  I"1  .SY///.V  (he  Duke  ;  '  Cull  "//'"'».'  " 

This  is  a  Western  form  of  speech,  and  expresses  appreciation  not  only 
of  the  joke,  but  of  the  joker,  whom  it  invites  to  take  an  early  opportunity 
of  giving  another  specimen  of  his  wit. 

47  "  Jjut,  no!      They  must  order  dunlln-i-  r<  /•//  n-." 
A  second  review  of  the  troops  having  been  ordered  to  take  place  in 
front  of  the  City  Hall,  ostensibly  to  entertain  the  PRINCE,  but  in  reality  to* 
gratify  the  morbid  vanity  of  certain  officials,  two  or  three  hours  were  need- 
le-~l\-  wasted.     The  consequence  was,  that  before  the  PKINCK'S  carriage'  had 
traversed  one  fourth  of  the  distance  between  the  City  Hall  and  his  hotel,  it 
had  become  too   dark  for  the  thousands  who,  during  so  many  hours,  had 
patiently  awaited  his  coming,  to  discern  His  Highness'  s  features.      Much 
dissatisfaction  at  this  gross  mismanagement  was  expressed. 

18  "  In  a  c<>j>'/  of  lux/  >/'(•<  /,-'*  /y/""///  Telegram" 

A  certain  part  of  the  rocky  coast  of  Long  Island  is  known  by  the 
euphonious  name  of  "  Squam." 


i 


NOTES.  89 


19  «  i  pnl)  indeed,  at  a  loss 
To  express,  old  Hoss?  " 

Here,  again,  we  find  ourselves  indebted  to  Western  invention  for  an 
elegant  and  dignified  apostrophe.  "  Hoss"  is  a  corruption  of  "  Horse,"  and 
"oldlloss"  is  used  familiarly,  in  the  same  sense  as  that  in  which  some 
persons  permit  themselves  to  address  their  friends  severally  as  "  old  fellow," 
"  old  boy."  Nothing  derogatory  is  meant,  however,  by  the  substitution  of 
the  quadruped  for  the  biped  in  this  case. 

i0  "  '  We  are  grateful,  indeed.     'T  was  a  very  big  thing?  " 

Anything  extraordinary  is  alluded  to  as  "  a  big  thing."  I  have  heard 
the  term  applied  to  a  sermon,  a  glass  of  rare  wine,  a  lady's  fan  made  of 
expensive  material,  a  heavy  shower  of  rain  or  a  storm,  an  elegant  ring,  a 
commercial  enterprise  or  speculative  operation,  <tc. 

"  "'And,  meanwhile,  let  us  liquor — Pm  excessively  (fry.'" 

"Let  us  liquor" — a  Western  invitation  to  drink  at  the  public  bar  of  a 
hotel.  The  pages  of  Punch,  however,  have  already  familiarised  the  English 
reader  with  this  American  nominal  verb. 

M  " '  But  something  I  must  take  ;  /  want  it  worst  kind'  " 

To  want  anything  "worst  kind"  is  to  desire  it  to  the  utmost  degree  of 
craving. 

63  "An  attack,  it  appears,  of  the  Ball  Committee." 

The  gentlemen  composing  the  "  Ball  Committee  "  were  among  the  most 
espectable  and  distinguished  of  the  citizens  of  New-York,  and  managed 
the  details  of  the  magnificent  entertainment  entrusted  to  their  care  with 
consummate  skill  and  ability,  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  presented  by  the 
very  democratic  constitution  of  the  *'/<•;//,'  ,/////<•  of  the  city.  If  they  did 
not  succeed  in  making  the  company  altogether  as  select  as  might  have  been 
wished,  they,  at  least,  did  the  best  they  could,  in  a  community  which 
is  apt  to  measure  position  by  the  test  of  wealth,  and  is  constantly  erecting 
ephemeral  statues  to  aristocracy  upon  pedestals  composed  of  dollars. 

One  of  the  prominent  members  of  the  "  Ball  Committee  "  has  earned  for 

12 


90  NOTES. 


himself  an  exalted  name  among  his  fellow-citizens  tor  liis  constant  and 
active  benevolence.  Unlike  many  rich  men  who  let  their  means  go  to 
charitable  or  benevolent  institutions  only  after  death  lias  rendered  their 
wealth  valueless  to  themselves,  Mr.  C.  timls  the  chief  enjoyment  of  life  in 
witnessing  the  results  of  his  good  actions.  ]Ie  has  built  and  given  to  the 
city  of  New-York  the  "  Union  Institute,"  a  magnificent  monument  of  noble 
care  for  the  great  cause  of  public  education. 

Had  there  existed  the  smallest  chance  that  either  of  the  gentlemen  here 
referred  to  would  have  taken  offence  at  the  lines  which  speak  mirthfully, 
but  not  disrespectfully,  of  their  names,  the  words  would  never  have  been 
written.  But  the  author  is  satisfied  that  no  one  will  more  thoroughly  under 
stand  the  innocence  of  the  joke  perpetrated,  than  the  gentlemen  who  are 
made  its  subject. 

64  "J'cr  tin-  lit/ioynijt/ted  notes." 

Among  the  oddities  of  the  Prince's  Ball,  none  created  more  merriment 
than  the  published  directions  to  the  effect  that  all  gentlemen  assisting 
at  that  /•'  a  a  'mi,  should  be  arrayed  in  black  pantaloons,  dress  coat,  and 
a  white  waistcoat.  This  promulgation  of  the  Ilaymarkct  etiquette  was 
regarded,  on  this  side  of  the  water,  as  an  example  of  imitative  thinkeyism, 
and  was  ridiculed  accordingly. 

65  "He  could  not  declare  himself  thoroughly  posted" 

Vide  Note  No.  5. 

68  "  They'd  do  better  to  ask  his  f/ood  friend,  unj  Lord  Li/onx." 
LORD  LYONS  was  and  is  Her  Majesty's  Ambassador  to  the  United  States. 

& 
67  "'  fii/l  there's  Archibald,  now  ;  Iie'x  a  lat/iei  ;/«m.' " 

Mr.  ARCHIBALD  held,  and  still  holds,  the  office  of  British  Consul  in  New- 
York. 

68  "For  a  ticket,  « nd  fid i/  tin  dollars  at  tint." 

The  tickets  to  the  Prince's  Ball  were  issued  at  ten  dollars  each,  and  it 
required  much  influence  to  obtain  one. 


NOTES.  91 


09  "  I presented  an  '  order  ^  to  hear  '  Broad  tra//."* 

The  title  of  another  humorous  production  by  the  author  of  "  The  P>-'ni<-t'x 
r/'.vV,"  and  shortly  to  be  published  as  a  companion-book  to  the  one  now  in 
the  hand  of  reader. 


;o  "  The  Prince  might  suppose  that  their  rank,  at  best, 
Must  be  traced  to  a  codfish,  by  way  of  crest" 

The  Nev-York  Herald,  I  believe  it  was,  which  first  applied  to  the  r/o///vw».r 
r'.fhrs  of  metropolitan  society  the  designation,  "Codfish  Aristocracy." 

01  "  '  No  !  only  a  floor-break:  " 

The  temporary  staging  erected  in  the  Opera  House  on  the  occasion  of 
the  ball,  gave  way  and  created  some  little  alarm,  but  was  speedily  repaired, 
and  the  casualty  did  not  materially  interfere  with  the  enjoyments  of  the 
evening. 

02  "  Sticks  to  the  Prince  like  a  man  of  glue." 
Mr.  C.  is  the  most  extensive  manufacturer  of  glue  in  the  United  States. 

63  "  Where  Cogswell  met  that  remarkable  ghost" 

DR.  COGSWELL,  the  eminent  Librarian  of  the  Astor  Library,  saw,  or 
asserted  that  he  saw,  a  most  remarkable  ghost,  several  nights,  reading 
studiously  in  the  great  hall. 

'*  "He  saw  the  Academy,  frowning  and  dark" 

he  Free  Academy  of  New- York  is  a  noble  institution,  of   which  the 
and  city  are  justly  proud.     Its  style  of  architecture,  however,  is 
gloomy,  and  the  building  has  more  the  appearance  of  a  dilapidated  match 
box  than  of  a  college. 

65  "  To  Barman's,  to  see  what  MIX  the  '  Wlat  is  it?" 

"The  What  is  it?"  is  an  idiotic  ne»To,  who  is  exhibited  by  Mi'.  11  u:\r\i 
under  this  "sensation"  title.  This  animal  at  present  occupies  Ilie  place  <>t 
the  Fejee  Mermaid,  absent  on  leave. 


92  NOTES. 


*  '"Well,  I  kind  o'  calculate;  sold  tie  Duke,  '  it's  a  nigger?  " 

The  Yankees  of  the  Eastern  States  "calculate"  where  the  Xew- Yorkers 
only  "guess."  ]'/</(  Note  Xo.  22. 

r'7  "  '  Not  he?  said  the  Duke  ;  '  no  !  nor  any  other  Man.' " 

The  talented  correspondent  of  VtmHii  Fair,  (the  American  J'/nn-/,,) 
ARTEMUS  WARD,  Esq.,  L.  L.  D.  and  Literary  Showman,  originated  the 
expression,  "  Xor  any  other  man."  Its  precise  meaning  never  having  been 
discovered,  it  is  promiscuously  employed  by  Young  America  as  a  finish  to 
any  subject  of  conversation. 

:8  ""Tis  one  of  those  hogs,  too  lazij  or  sit/, 

Who,  refusing  to  root,  had  been  forced  to  die.'  " 

"Root,  hog,  or  die,"  is  the  burden  of  an  Ethiopian  melody,  which,  since 
"  nigger  music "  lias  succeeded  in  sharing  with  German  and  Italian  Opera 
the  favor  of  the  enlightened  British  public,  may  be  said  to  be  popular  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  animal  being  presented  with  the  alternative 
of  death  by  starvation  if  he  refuses  to  work  (root)  for  his  own  living,  the 
exhortation  quoted  from  the  song  must  be  accepted  as  a  moral  lesson  on  the 
value  of  industry. 

58  " Put  Grace-Church  Broivrfs pipe  most  completely  out" 

MR.  BROWN,  the  dignified  and  amiable  Sexton  of  "the  fashionable 
church"  of  Xew-York,  is  a  gentleman  of  consequence  and  distinction,  and, 
as  such,  is  well  known  to  the  Xew-York  public.  He  conducts  baptisms, 
arranges  weddings,  superintends  funerals,  and  is  said  to  dispense  Invitation! 
to  many  of  the  balls  and  private  parties  given  by  certain  would-be  fashion 
able  families  of  upper-tendom. 

70  "  And  showed  him  (he  '  hub  of  (he  universe.'  " 

The  good  people  of  Boston  have  a  very  magnificent  idea  of  their  pretty 
little  city,  which  they  designate  the  "American  Athens,"  among  other 
Attic  titles.  The  Autocrat  of  tin'  Jlrrnkfiixl  Tnlili-  has  said,  perhaps  with 
more  severity  than  truth,  that  the  tire  of  the  earth,  straightened  into  a  lever, 
could  not  pry  out  of  the  Boston  mind  the  belief  that  the  State  House  on 
Beacon  Hill  is  the  hub  (or  radiating  centre)  of  the  universe. 


NOTES.  93 


71  "  When  the  Great  Eastern  flatly  refused  to  yo  there." 

The  citizens  of  Portland  were  much  incensed,  and  justly  so,  as  far  as  a 
judgment  can  be  formed  on  ex  parte  evidence,  against  the  Directors  of  the 
Great  Eastern  Steamship  Co.,  for  their  refusal  to  let  the  vessel  visit  Port 
land,  after  an  understanding  that  she  was  to  be  sent  thither  had  induced 
that  city  to  expend  a  large  sum  of  money  in  making  preparations  for  her 
reception. 

72  "  As  he  says  to  the  Prince,  '  Those  States  are  some.'' " 

The  word  "  some "  is  frequently  used  in  the  same  sense  as  the  other 
purely  American  term,  "  considerable,"  which  vaguely  conveys  the  idea  of 
"a  great  deal"  or  "a  great  many"  more  than  the  speaker  would  be  bold 
enough  to  mention  definitely.  It  serves  rather  to  insinuate  and  leave  to  the 
hearer's  assumed  predilection  for  exaggeration,  than  to  assert  and  incur  the 
hazard  of  being  discredited.  The  phrase  "  some  pumpkins "  is  often  em 
ployed  to  treat,  in  like  manner,  of  subjects  which  are  not  vegetable  by  any 
means. 

:'J  "'And  with  angry  language  a  trifle  too  slick?  " 
"  Slick"  implies  ready,  prompt,  quick. 

4  "  '  But  't  iv ill  pass  and  be  gone  again  quicker  'an  's  cat?  " 

"  'S  cat"  is  an  expression  used  in  the  Eastern  States  to  drive  a  cat  from  a 
parlor,  out  of  a  garden,  or  off  other  prohibited  ground;  and  "quicker  'an 
'scat"  denotes  haste  even  greater  than  ('an)  that  displayed  by  the  feline 
animal  when  the  verbal  missile  above  cited  is  hurled  at  it. 

'a  "  '  Let  all  who  oppose  them  stand  well  from  under?  " 

The  adjuration  to  "stand  from  under"  is  a  popular  form  of  advertise 
ment  that  something  slightly  astonishing  is  about  to  occur. 

1  "  '  May  God  bless  and  preserve  thee,  thou  Union  of  States!' ' 

In  the  present  unhappy  position  of  public  affairs  in  this  country,  it 
might  seem  that  this  prayer  of  the  good  DUKE  haa  not  been  heard  by  the 
Being  with  whose  Holy  Name  these  few  pages  of  humor  are  made  reverently 


NOTES. 


to  conclude.  But  the  author  begs  the  reader  to  remember  that  all  things 
may  not,  in  reality,  be  so  bad  as  they  seem.  His  faith  is  strong  in  the 
I'nion;  and  he  sincerely  believes  that  the  universal  love  with  which  it  was 
regarded  by  all  Americans  but  a  brief  time  gone  by,  "is  not  dead,  but 
sleepeth."  The  Union  is  now  undergoing  the  last  and  most  severe  test  to 
which  it  is  likely  ever  to  be  put.  To  hope  that  it  will  emerge  successfully 
from  the  trial,  is  to  hope  what  all  men  who  love  peace  and  cherish  national 
prosperity  earnestly  desire ;  to  believe  that  it  will  come  out  of  the  struggle 
stronger  and  more  enduring  than  before,  is  only  to  believe  in  the  mercy 
of  Our  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  and  in  the  wisdom  and  moderation  of 
Americans  in  every  section  of  the  country. 


NOTICE. 
DE  CORDOVA'S  humorous  Poem, 

I3ROA.DWA.Y, 

copiously  illustrated  by  the  leading  Artists  of  America,  is 
in  press,  and  will  be  published,  in  style  uniform  with 
"TiiE  PKINCE'S  VISIT,"  so  soon  as  the  engravings,  -which 
are  now  in  progress,  shall  have  been  completed. 

Parties  desirous  of  obtaining  copies  of  the  first  edition 
will  please  address  the  publisher, 

B.  FRODSIIAM, 

548  BKOADWAY. 


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